THE  WORLD 

WITH    SPECIAL   REFERENCE   TO 

UNITED  STATES, 

OD  DEPENDENT  TERRITORIES. 


«W«.-ER.Ag^^        4  R          * 


D  O  M  I  N  I .O  flh  /< 


NOTE. —  The  total  distance  from  Ban  Fran 
to  Manila,  via  Hawaii  an.; 
Statute  Miles. 
From  Puerto  Rico  to  the  Philii ;    ..  - 

or  half  around  the  Globe. 
The  total  distance  from  San  Juan.  Pi 
to  Manila  via  New  York  *  8»n  Fra:-> 
13,000  miles. 


SCALES  ALONG  THE  EQUATOR 

000  3000        0  1000      2000         3000 

OMETERS 


% 


A   STUDENTS'    HISTORY   OF 
THE    UNITED    STATES 


Abraham  Lincoln 
From  a  photograph  by  Brady,   1860 


A  STUDENTS'   HISTORY 


OF 


THE   UNITED   STATES 


BY 

EDWARD    CHANNING 

PROFESSOR   OF   HISTORY    IN    HARVARD    UNIVERSITY 


WITH  MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Istebigefc  iEtiitton 


Nefo  gorfc 
THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1904 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1897, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

COPYRIGHT,  1898, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

COPYRIGHT,  1904, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up,  electrotyped,  and  published  December,  1897.  Reprinted  April,  1898. 
New  edition,  with  additions,  printed  September,  1898;  August,  1899;  July, 
1900;  March,  1901;  March,  1902;  May,  1903.  Revised  edition  printed  June, 
1904. 


HENRY 


Nortoooto 

J.  S.  dishing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


etc. 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

THE  cordial  welcome  and  continued  favor  which  have 
been  accorded  to  this  advanced  manual  of  United  States 
history  have  been  far  in  excess  of  the  author's  expectations. 
He  feels  assured  that  this  success  has  been  due,  in  great 
measure,  to  the  kindness  of  the  many  friends  which  the 
book  has  found.  In  preparing  this  new  edition  he  has 
endeavored,  as  far  as  possible,  to  meet  their  wishes,  to 
follow  their  valuable  suggestions,  to  correct  the  errors 
which  they  have  pointed  out,  and  to  bring  the  text  down 
to  the  present  time. 

»  "*•   r          *       •» 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS, 
May  2,  1904. 


vii 

510817 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 
THE  LAND  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


SEC.  PAGE 

1.  Geography  and  History  .    .  i 

2.  Temperature  of  America  and 

of  Europe 2 

3.  Temperature  of  the  United 

States 5 

4.  Rainfall 7 


SEC.  PAGE 

5.  Physical  Formation  of  North 

America 8 

6.  The  Atlantic  Seaboard     .    .  10 

7.  The  Mississippi  Basin      .    .  12 

8.  The  Cordilleran  Region  .    .  14 

9.  Adaptability  of  the  Continent  15 


CHAPTER  I 
DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION,  1000-1600 


10.  Voyages  of  the  Northmen    .  19 

11.  English  and  French  Fisher 

men     20 

12.  Early  Geographical  Ideas    .  20, 

13.  Ideas  of  Toscanelli,  Behaim, 

and  Columbus      ....  21 

14.  Columbus's    First    Voyage, 

1492 24 

15.  Columbus's  Later  Voyages  .  25 

16.  The   Cabot  Voyages,    1497, 

1498 27 

17.  The  Naming  of  America      .  29 

18.  Discovery    of    the     Pacific, 

1513 30 

19.  Circumnavigation     of     the 

Globe 32 

20.  Florida,  1513 33 

33 

34 


21.  Mexico  .     .     .     .     , 

22.  The  Atlantic  Coast 


23.  The  Verrazano  Voyage,  1524    34 


SEC.  PAGE 

24.  Wanderings   of  Cabeza  de 

Vaca,  1527-36     ....    35 

25.  Coronado's     Expedition, 

1540-42 36 

26.  De  Soto's  Expedition,  1539- 

43 37 

27.  The  French  in  the  St.  Law 

rence,  1534-41     ....    37 

28.  The     Huguenot    Colonies, 

1555-65 38 

29.  Destruction   of  the   French 

Colony,  1565 39 

30.  The  Elizabethan  Seamen     .     40 

31.  Drake's  Voyage  around  the 

World 42 

32.  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert     .     .     42 

33.  The  Ralegh  Colonists,  1584- 

90 43 

34.  The  Spanish  Armada,  1588      44 


Table  of  Contents 


CHAPTER  II 
COLONIZATION,  1600-1660 


35.  The  French  in  Acadia  and 

Canada 50 

36.  Revival  of   English   Enter 

prise      

"X  37.   The  Virginia  Company,  1606 

38.  The  Popham  Colony,  1607  . 

39.  The  Jamestown  Colony,  1607 

40.  The  Virginian  Charters  of 

1609  and  1612      .... 

41.  Dale's  Administration 

42.  Introduction  of  Representa 

tive  Institutions  .... 

43.  Introduction  of  Forced  La 

bor    

44.  Overthrow  of   the  Virginia 

Company,  1624  .... 

45.  Virginia   under    the    Royal 

Governors,  1624-52      .     . 

46.  Virginia  during  the  Puritan 

Supremacy 59 

47.  The    Calverts    and    Mary- 
1  land 

48.  Boundaries  of  Maryland 

49.  Government  of  Maryland    . 

50.  Toleration  Act,  1649  .     .     . 

51.  The  Council  for  New  Eng 

land  

52.  The  English  Puritans 

53.  The  Pilgrims 63 

54.  The  Pilgrim  Compact,  1620 

55.  Settlement      at      Plymouth, 

1620 . 


LGE 

SEC. 
56. 

5° 

57- 

51 

58. 

51 

52 

59- 

53 

60. 

54 

61. 

55 

62. 

63- 

56 

64. 

57 

65- 

57 

66. 

53 

67. 

59 

68. 

60 

69. 

61 

70. 

6  1 

71- 

62 

72. 

63 

63 

73- 

63 

74- 

65 

75- 

76. 

67 

77- 

The     Pilgrims    and    Com 

munism     ......    67 

Form  of  Government      .     .     68 
The      Massachusetts      Bay      * 

Company,  1629  ....  69 
The  Puritans  in  England  .  70 
The  Great  Emigration,  1630- 

40     ........    71 

Problems  of  Government     .    71 
Attacks  on  Massachusetts    .    73 
Roger  Williams      .... 

Founding    of     Providence, 

1636       .     .     ..... 

Anne  Hutchinson  and  her 

Adherents  .....  75 
Settlements  on  Narragan- 

sett  Bay      ......    76 

Founding    of    Connecticut,     • 

1635-40      ......     77 

Connecticut  Orders  of  1638-  . 

39     ........  78 

Extent  of  Connecticut     .     .  78 

New  Haven,  1638  ....  78 

The  First  New  England 

Code  of  Laws,  1641  .  .  79 
The  United  Colonies  of  New 

England,  1643  •  •  •  •  79 

Articles  of  Confederation  .  80 

The  Dutch  Settlements  .  .  82 

Kieft  and  Stuyvesant  ...  83 

The  Swedes  on  the  Delaware  84 

Summary  .......  85 


74 
vi 

74 


CHAPTER  III 
A  CENTURY  OF  COLONIAL  HISTORY,  1660-1760 


SEC.  PAGE 

78.  The  New  Era  in  Coloniza 

tion  90 

79.  The      Puritans      and      the 

Quakers 90 

80.  The    English    Government 

and  Massachusetts  ...    92 

81.  Massachusetts    Declaration 

of  Rights,  1661    ....    93 


SEC.  PAGE 

82.  The  Commission  of  1664     .  93 

83.  Charters  of  Connecticut  and 

Rhode  Island      ....  94 

84.  Conquest  of  New   Nether- 

land,  1664 95 

85.  Settlement  of  New  Jersey     .  96 

86.  William  Penn 97 

87.  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line     ,  98 


Table  of  Contents 


XI 


SEC.  PAGE 

88.  The  Northern  Boundary  of 

Pennsylvania     ....    99 

89.  Penn  and  the  Indians    .     .  100 

90.  Government    of    Pennsyl 

vania  loo 

91.  The  Carolina  Charters  .     .  101 

92.  Settlement  of  the  Carolinas  102 

93.  Grievances  of  the  Virgini 

ans,  1660-76 103 

94.  Bacon's  Rebellion,  1676     .  104 

95.  Virginia,  1677-1700  .     .     .  104 

96.  Overthrow  of  the   Massa 

chusetts  Charter    .     .     .  104 

97.  The  Stuart  Tyranny  in  New 

England 105 

98.  The  "Glorious  Revolution" 

in  America 107 

99.  Policy  of  the  New  Govern 

ment    107 


SEC.  PAGE 

100.  Georgia no 

101.  The  Carolinas no 

102.  Constitutional    Progres-S* 

1689-1760     m 

103.  French  and  Indian  Wars, 

1690-1748 112. 

104.  Founding  of  Louisiana  .     .  114 

105.  Expulsion   of  the  French, 

1754-63 "5 

106.  The  Proclamation  of  1763  .  117  . 

107.  The      Albany      Congress, 

1754 "9 

108.  Statistics    of     Population, 

1760 120 

109.  Negro  Slavery      ....  121 
no.   White  Servitude  ....  132 

in.   Religion 123 

112.   Education 124 


CHAPTER   IV 

INTERCOLONIAL  UNION,  1760-1774 


SEC.  PAGE 

113.  Change    in    the    Colonial 

Policy  of  Britain    .     .     .131 

114.  The  Colonial  System     .     .   132 

1 15.  Difficulties  in  Enforcing  the 

Laws 133 

116.  Writs  of  Assistance,  1761  .  134 

117.  Otis's  Rights   of  the  Colo 

nies,  1764 135 

The  Parson's  Cause,  1763  .  136 
Grenville's  Policy  .  .  .  138 
Passage  of  the  Stamp  Act, 

1765 139 

121.  The  Stamp  Act     ....  140 

122.  Representative  Institutions  140 

123.  English  Theory  of  Repre 

sentation  143 

124.  Resistance  in  America  .     .  144 

125.  The  Stamp  Act  Congress, 

1765 146 

126.  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act, 

1766 147 


SEC.  PAGE 

127.  The  Townshend  Acts,  1767  149 

128.  Resistance   to   the   Town 

shend  Acts,  1768,  1769    .  150 

129.  Seizure  of  the  Liberty,  1768  152 

130.  The  Virginia   Resolves  of 

1769 153 

131.  Non- Importation    Agree 

ments,  1769 154 

132.  The  Boston  Massacre,  1770  155 

133.  Local  Committees  of  Cor 

respondence      ....  157 

134.  Colonial    Committees     of 

Correspondence    .     .     .  158 

135.  Colonial  Union    ....  159 

136.  Repressive  Acts,  1774     .     .  161 

137.  The  First  Continental  Con 

gress,  1774 162 

138.  More  Repressive  Measures, 

1774.  1775 164 

139.  Lexington    and    Concord, 

April  19,  1775    ....  165 


Xll 


Table  of  Contents 


CHAPTER  V 


INDEPENDENCE,  1775-1783 


SEC.  PAGE 

140.  Material  Prosperity,  1775  .  170 

141.  Advantages  of  the  Colonists  171 

142.  Bunker  Hill,  1775      .     .     .   172 

143.  Evacuation  of  Boston,  1776  175 

144.  Growth  towards  Independ 

ence,  1775,  1776     .     .     .  176 

145.  The  State  Constitutions     .  176 

146.  Organization  of  a  General 

Government      .     .     .     .178 

147.  The  Hessians 180 

148.  The  Declaration   of  Inde 

pendence       181 

149.  Campaign  of  1776     .     .     .  184 

150.  Campaign  of  1777      .     .     .185 

151.  The   Conway  Cabal,  1777, 

1778 188 

152.  The  French  Alliance.'^S  190 


SEC.  PAGE 

153.  Lord  North's  Conciliatory 

Proposals,  1778      .     .     .191 

154.  Treason  of  Charles  Lee      .  192 

155.  Arnold's  Treason      .     .     .193 

156.  The  Southern  Campaigns, 

1776-81 195 

157.  The  Yorktown  Campaign, 

1781 198 

158.  Naval  Warfare     ....  199 

159.  Congress  and  the  Army     .  200 

160.  The   Newburg  Addresses, 

1783 202 

161.  Finances  of  the  Revolution  203 
162. '  The  Loyalists 204 

163.  Peace  Negotiations  of  1782  205 

164.  The  Treaty  of  Peace,  1783  208 

165.  Problems  of  Peace    .     .     .211 


CHAPTER   VI 


THE  CONSTITUTION,  1783-1789 


SEC.  PAGE 

166.  Nationalism  and    Particu 

larism  215 

167.  Formation  of  the  Articles 

of  Confederation   .     .     .  216 

168.  The  Articles  of  Confedera 

tion      218 

169.  Importance  of  the  Articles 

of  Confederation    .     .     .  219 

170.  Claims  to  Western  Lands  219 

171.  Validity  of  these  Claims     .  222 

172.  The  Land  Cessions  .     .     .  222 

173.  The  Ordinance  of  1787  .     .  224 

174.  Social  Progress,  1780-89    .  227 

175.  Foreign  Relations,  1783-89  228 

176.  Financial  Problems,  1783- 

86 230 

177.  The  Critical  Period,  1786, 

1787 231 


SEC.  PAGE 

178.  Attempts    to    amend    the 

Articles     ......  232 

179.  Genesis  of  the  Federal  Con 

vention     ......  232 

180.  The    Federal   Convention, 
^787     .......  234 

iSi^TCature  of  the  Constitution  236 
Jj£2.   The  Great  Compromises    .  237 

183.  A  Government  of  Checks 

and  Balances     ....  239 

184.  The  Legislative  Power  .     .  240 

185.  The  Supreme  Court  .     .     .  241 

186.  Political  Parties    ....  242 

187.  Stability  of  the   Constitu- 


244 


,Xt 

fop€.   The  President  .....  246 
189.    Ratification  of  the  Constitu 

tion,  1787,  1788       .     .     .  247 


Table  of  Contents 


Xlll 


CHAPTER   VII 
THE  FEDERALIST  SUPREMACY,  1789-1800 


SEC.       /  PAGE 

AcxXvVashington  elected  Presi- 
U'  dent 257 

191.  John  Adams  elected  Vice- 

Presinent 258 

192.  Political  Tendencies,  1789  259 

193.  Washington's       Inaugura 

tion,  1789 262 

194.  Organization   of  the   Gov 

ernment    264 

195.  Hamilton's  Financial  Meas 

ures      266 

196.  The  National  Capital  and 

Assumption 268 

197.  The  First  Slavery  Debates, 

1789,  1790 269 

198.  The  Excise  and  the  Bank, 

1791 271 

199.  Rise    of    the    Republican 

Party 273 


SEC.  PAGE 

200.  The  Neutrality  Proclama 

tion,  1793 274 

201.  Relations  with  Great  Britain  276 

202.  Jay's  Treaty,  1794     .     .     .  278 

203.  Ratification  of  Jay's  Treaty,  279 

204.  Relations  with   Spain  and 

France,  1794-97     •     •     •  280 

205.  Washington's  Farewell  Ad- 
f  dress,  1797 281 

.206.    Election   of  John  Adams, 

1796 281 

207.  Breach  with  France,  1796- 

99 283 

208.  Alien    and    Sedition  Acts, 

1798 284 

209.  The  Virginia  and  Kentucky 

Resolutions,  1798,  1799   .  286 

210.  Treaty  with  France,  1800    .  288 

211.  The  Election  of  1800      .     .  290 

212.  The  Judiciary  Act,  1801     .  292 


CHAPTER   VIII 
THE  JEFFERSONIAN  REPUBLICANS,  1801-1812 


SEC.  PAGE      SEC. 

213.  American  Ideals,  1800  .     .  295  !  229. 

214.  Population  in  1800    .     .     .  296 

215.  Analysis  of  the  Population  299    230. 

216.  Various  Statistics       .     .     .  300  ' 

217.  Occupations  of  the  People  301  I  231. 

218.  Cotton  Culture  and  Manu-  232. 

facture 302 

219.  Slavery 305  |  233. 

220.  Internal  Communication    .  306 
Intellectual  Life    ....  307    234. 

Fhe    Federalists    and    the 

.'"'People 308    235. 

\3*3\    Jefferson's  Inaugural     .     .  310 

224.  The  Civil  Service      .     .     .311    236. 

225.  The  Judiciary  Department  313  '237. 

226.  Financial  Policy    ....  314 

227.  The    Louisiana   Purchase,  238. 

l8°3 315    239. 

228.  Questions  arising  out  of  the 

Purchase 317 


PAGE 
The  Twelfth  Amendment, 

1804 319 

Burr's      Conspiracy      and 

Trial,  1804-07  ....  320 
Attacks  on  Neutral  Trade  321 
Decrees  and  Orders,  1806- 

10 322 

The  Impressment  Contro 
versy,  1793-1807     .     .     .  323 
The  Outrage  on  the  Chesa 
peake,  1807 325 

Jefferson's    Embargo    Pol 
icy,  1807,  1808  ....  325 
Effects  of  the  Embargo       .  327 
The  Non-intercourse  Act, 

1809 328 

The  Erskine  Treaty,  1809  .  329 
The   Declaration  of  War, 
1812 330 


XIV 


Table  of  Contents 


CHAPTER   IX 
WAR  AND  PEACE,  1812-1829 


SEC.  PAGE 

240.  Nature  of  the  Conflict  .     .  335 

241.  Campaigns  of  1812-14..     .337 

242.  The  British  Defeat  at  New 

Orleans,  1814,  1815     .     .  337 

243.  The  War  on  the  Sea      .     .  338 

244.  The  Privateers      ....  341 

245.  Negotiations  for  Peace  .     .  341 

246.  The  Treaty  of  Ghent,  1814  342 

247.  The  Hartford  Convention  .  343 

248.  Results  of  the  War    .     .     .  345 

249.  Altered   Industrial  Condi 

tions,  1816 346 

250.  Early  Tariff  Legislation     .  347 

251.  Growth  of  Textile   Indus 

tries,  1800-15    ....  348 

252.  Tariff  Act  of  1816      .     .     .  348 
Monroe's  Administrations  .  349 

254.  The  Policy  of  Nationajiza- 

tion 350 

255.  Relations  with  Great  Brit 

ain,  1815-18 352 


SEC.  PAGE 

256.  Relations  with  Spain,  1810- 

19 353 

257.  The  Florida  Treaty,  1819  .  354 

258.  The    Spanish- American 

Colonies,   1808-22      .     .  355 

259.  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  1823  356 

260.  The  Russian  Treaty  of  1824  359 

261.  Extension  of  Slave  Territory  359 

262.  The  Missouri  Compromises  361 

263.  The  Tariff  of  1824    .     .     .363 

264.  Ttfe     Election    of    J.    Q. 

/    Adams,   1824,  1825    .     .  364 
J.  Q.  Adams's  Administra 
tion,  1825-29      .... 

266.  Foreign  Relations,  1825-29  369 

267.  Adams  and  Georgia,  1825- 

27 370 

268.  The    Tariff   of  Abomina 

tions,  1828 371 

269.  Calhoun's  Exposition,  1828  372 

270.  Elections  of  1828  ....  373 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  NATIONAL  DEMOCRACY,  1829-1844 


SEC.  PAGE 

271.  Significance    of   Jackson's 

Election 377 

272.  Theory  of  Popular  Sover 

eignty  378 

273.  Population    and    Area    in 

1830 380 

274.  Influence  of  Slavery  .     .     .  383 

275.  Improvements    in    Trans 

portation  384 

276.  Railroads 386 

277.  Other  Inventions  ....  387 

278.  Social  Changes     ....  387 

279.  Education  and  Religion     .  388 

280.  The  Spoils  System,  1829  .  390 

281.  Webster  and  Hayne .     .     .391 

282.  Nullification,  1832,  1833      .  395 

283.  The  Force  Bill      .     .     .     .397 

284.  The  Compromise  Tariff    .  398 

285.  The  Anti-slavery  Agitation, 

1831-38 399 


286. 
287. 
288. 
289. 

290. 
291. 
292. 

293- 
294. 

295- 
296. 

297. 


Anti-abolition  Sentiment  in 
the  North,  1834-37  .  .  400 

Slavery  Petitions  in  Con 
gress,  1836 400 

Change  of  Sentiment  in  the 
North,  1837,  1838  .  .  .  402 

Foreign    Relations,    1829- 

37 403 

Jackson's  War  on  the  Bank  403 
Removal  of  the  Deposits  .  405 
Distribution  of  the  Surplus, 

1837 406" 

The  Specie  Circular,  1836  408 
The  Independent  Treasury 

Act,  1840 409 

The  Election  of  1840  .  .  409 
Tyler's  Administration, 

1841-45 4" 

The  Ashburton  Treaty, 
1842 412 


Table  of  Contents 


xv 


CHAPTER   XI 
SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES,  1844-1859 


298.  Necessity  for  More  Slave 

Territory 417 

299.  The  Annexation  of  Texas, 

1845 419 

300.  Mexican  War,  1846-48  .     .  421 

301.  The  Oregon  Treaty,  1846  .  423 

302.  The  Walker  Tariff,  1846    .  425 

303.  California,  1848-50    .     .     .  427 

304.  The  Wilmot  Proviso,  1846  429 

305.  The  Election  of  1848     .     .  429 

306.  Taylor's  Policy,  1849, 
Compromise  of  1850 


307. 

308.   Fugitive  Slaves 


431 
433 
436 


SEC.  PAGE 

309.  Election  of  1852    ....  438 

310.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  439 

311.  Appeal  of  the  Independent 

Democrats,  1854    .     .     .  440 

312.  Popular  Sovereignty       .     .  442 

313.  Struggle  for  Kansas,  1855- 

61 443 

314.  The  Dred  Scott  Decision, 

1857 448 

315.  Lincoln  and  Douglas,  1858  449 

316.  John  Brown's  Execution    .  450 

317.  Helper's  Impending  Crisis, 

1857 452 


CHAPTER   XII 

SECESSION,  1860-1861 


318.  Introductory 455 

319.  Population,  1860  ....  456 

320.  Distribution  of  the  Popula 

tion,  Area,  etc 457 

321.  Slave   and    Free    Sections 

compared 459 

322.  Transportation     ....  461 

323.  Material  Prosperity  .     .     .  462 

324.  Financial  Policy,  1857-61  .  464 

325.  Mental  Activity     ....  465 

326.  Election  of  1860    ....  467 


SEC.  PAGE 

327.  Secession  Threatened,  1860  471 

328.  Compromise  Suggestions  .  471 

329.  The   Crittenden    Compro 

mise     472 

330.  Secession  of  Seven  States, 

1860-61 473 

331.  The  Underlying  Cause  of 

Secession 475 

332.  Southern  Blunders    .     .     .  476 

333.  Apathy  of  the  Northerners  477 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1861-1865 


SEC.  PAGE 

334.  Lincoln's  Policy,  1861    .    .  482 

335.  Lincoln's  Advisers    .     .     .  483 

336.  Uprising    of    the    People, 

April,  1861 484 

337.  The  "  Border  States,"  1861  486 

338.  Military    Strength    of    the 

North  and  the  South    .  487 

339.  Numbers 488 

340.  Northern  Finances,  1861- 

65 489 

341.  The      National      Banking 

System 491 


SEC.  PAGE 

342.  Increased  Taxation  .     .     .  491 

343.  Southern  Finances,  1861-65  492 

344.  The  Blockade 493 

345.  Characteristics  of  the  Con 

flict      495 

346.  Defense  of  Washington     .  496 

347.  Theater    of  War    in   Vir 

ginia    497 

348.  The  Bull  Run  Campaign  .  498 

349.  The  Contest  in  the  West   .  499 

350.  The  Trent  Affair,  1861  .     .  502 

351.  Capture  of  New  Orleans    .  503 


XVI 


Table  of  Contents 


SEC.  PAGE 

352.  Shiloh,  April,  1862    .     .     .  505 

353.  The  Monitor  and  the  Mer- 

rimac,  March,  1862    .     .  506 

354.  The  Peninsular  Campaign, 

March  to  August,  1862    .  507 

355.  The  Second  Bull  Run  Cam 

paign,  August,  1862   .     .  509 

356.  The  Antietam  and  Freder- 

icksburg,  1862  ....  510 

357.  Campaign  in  Eastern  Ten 

nessee,  1862 511 

358.  Lincoln's     Policy     as     to 

Slavery,  1861-63     .     .     .  513 

359.  The  Emancipation  Procla 

mation,  1863      ....  515 

360.  The  Vicksburg  Campaign  516 

361.  Chancellorsville,  May,  1863  517 

362.  Gettysburg,  July,  1863  .     .  518 


SEC.  PAGE 

363.  Northern  Opposition  to  the 

War 519 

364.  Chickamauga  and  Chatta 

nooga,  1863 520 

365.  The     Atlanta    Campaign, 

May  to  July,  1864  .     .     .  522 

366.  Plan  of  Campaign     .     .     .  523 

367.  Sherman  and  Thomas  .     .  524 

368.  Grant  and  Lee,  1864      .     .  525 

369.  Sheridan's     Valley     Cam 

paign,  1864 526 

370.  Great  Britain  and  the  Con 

federate  Cruisers   .     .     .  527 

371.  Lincoln's  Re-election,  1864  528 

372.  The    Surrender  at  Appo- 

mattox,  1865      ....  529 

373.  Assassination  of  Lincoln    .  529 

374.  The  Cost  of  the  War    .     .  530 


SEC. 

375' 


CHAPTER   XIV 
NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT,  1865-1900 


Return    to    Peace    Condi 
tions    533 

376.  The  Army  and  Navy     .     .  534 

377.  The  War  Debt     ....  535 

378.  Lincoln's  Southern  Policy  536 

379.  Johnson's    Reconstruction 

Policy,  1865 538 

380.  The  Freedmen's  Bureau    .  539 

381.  The    Fourteenth    Amend 

ment    540 

382.  The  Reconstruction  Acts   .  541 

383.  Impeachment  of  President 

Johnson, 1868    ....  543 

384.  Foreign  Relations,  1865-69  543 

385.  Election  of  1868    .     .     .     .544 

386.  End  of  Reconstruction  .     .  544 

387.  Relations  with  Great  Brit 

ain  546 

388.  Political  Uncertainty     .     .  547 


SEC.  PAGE 

389.  Election  of  1876    .     .     .     .548 

390.  A  New  Epoch,  1876  .     .     .  549 

391.  Political  History,  1877-96  .  550 

392.  Civil  Service  Reform     .     .  553 

393.  Taxation 555 

394.  The  Cuban  Question     .     .  557 

395.  Causes  of  the  Spanish  War  558 

396.  The  War  on  the  Sea     .     .  561 

397.  The  Land  Campaigns  .     .  565 

398.  Conclusion  of  Hostilities    .  569 

399.  Population,  1900  ....  571" 

400.  Distribution  of  Population, 

Area,  etc 573 

401.  Transportation,  1900     .     .  574 

402.  Industrial  Development     .  577 

403.  Agricultural  Development.  578 

404.  Prosperity,  1900    ....  579 

405.  McKinley  and  Roosevelt   .  580 

406.  Alaska  and  Panama      .     .  582 


APPENDIX 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE ,    .    .    .      i 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES v 

INDEX xix 


MAPS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS 


COLORED    MAPS 

NOF  PAGE 

*jU    The  United  States,  showing  forms  of  land         .         facing       I 

II.     The  Colonies  of  1763,  from  Bell's  North  America          "  169 

III.  Negotiations  of  1782,  from  Fitzmaurice's  Shelburne       "  209 

IV.  Territorial  Acquisitions,  1783-1853  .         .         .         .      "  215^ 
V.     The  United  States  in  1800        .         .         ..."  295 

VI.     The  United  States  in  1830        .         .         ..."  377 

VII.     The  United  States  in  1850 "  417 

VIII.     The  United  States  in  1860         .         .         .         •         •      "  455 

IX.     The  United  States  in  1890         .         .         .         .         .      "  533 
X.     The  World,  with  especial  reference  to  the  United  States 

and  dependent  territories     .          .         .    inside  of  front  cover 

MAPS   IN  THE   TEXT 

Lines  of  equal  temperature,  annual,  February,  August  .         .  3,  4,  5 

Average  annual  rainfall         ........  9 

Geographical  ideas  of  Toscanelli,  from  Italian  Columbian  Com 
mission  Report      .         .• 22 

Behaim's  globe  (1492),  from  Ruge's  Kartographie       ...  23 

La  Cosa's  map  (1500),  from  Ruge's  Kartographie       ...  26 

Bartholomew  Columbus's  map  (before  1502)        ....  27 

The  Cabot  map  (1544) 28 

Routes  of  the  discoverers 31 

Virginia  charter,  1606 52 

Virginia  charter,  1609  •••••••••  53 

New  England  and  Maryland  charters  ......  60 

Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Carolana,  and  Carolina  charters         .  68 

Pennsylvania  charter 99 

Proclamation  of  1763   . 118 

The  Revolutionary  War  in  the  North  .         .         .         .         .         .187 

The  Revolutionary  War  in  the  South 196 

The  United  States,  1783 .  209 

Claims  and  cessions      ........         .         .         .         •  22I_ 

Election  of  1796 282 


xviii  Maps  and  Illustrations 

PAGE 

Election  of  1800 290 

Movement  of  center  of  population,  1790-1900      ....  296 

Density  of  population,  1800 299 

The  United  States,  1803 316 

The  United  States,  1821 354 

Election  of  1824 366 

Election  of  1828 373 

Density  of  population,  1830           .         .         .-                 .         .         .  384 

Election  of  1840 410 

Election  of  1844 420 

The  United  States,  1845 423 

The  United  States,  1853 428 

Election  of  1848 430 

Election  of  1852 439 

Kansas-Nebraska  Act  .         . 441 

Election  of  1856 447 

Density  of  population,  1860 458 

Election  of  1860 469 

The  United  States,  1861,  showing  Slave  and  Free  Soil         .         .  474 

Rivers  and  railroads  of  the  South 500 

Civil  War  in  the  East  .         .         . 508 

Civil  War  in  the  WTest 512 

Election  of  1880 551 

Election  of  1884 552 

Density  of  population,  1900 575 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Abraham  Lincoln,  from  a  photograph  by  Brady,  1860  .  Frontispiece 
Toscanelli,  from  Italian  Columbian  Commission's  Report,  I .  .  21 
Cosmographiae  Introductio,  facsimile  of  passage  ....  30 
Magellan,  from  Hakluyt  Society's  Magellan  volume  ...  32 
Cartier,  after  an  engraving  of  the  portrait  at  St.  Malo  ...  38 
John  Hawkins,  from  Hakluyt  Society's  Hawkins's  Voyages  .  .  41 
Champlain,  from  an  engraving  of  the  Moncornet  portrait  .  .  51 
Dock  at  Plymouth,  England,  from  a  photograph  ....  64 
The  Pilgrim  Compact,  facsimile  of  Bradford's  manuscript  .  .  66 
John  Winthrop,  from  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Winthrop,  by  per 
mission  of  Little,  Brown  &  Co 72 

Sir  Henry  Vane,  from  an  old  engraving 76 

William  Penn,  from  an  ivory  model  by  Bevan       ....  97 
Sir  Edmund  Andros,  from  an  old  engraving          .         .         .         .106 

Massachusetts  Currency,  1690,  facsimile  of  original      .         .         .  108 

A  blockhouse,  from  Anburey's  Travels 113 


Maps  and  Illustrations  xix 

PAGE 

Sir  William  Pepperell,  from  Parsons'  Life  ofPepperell,  by  permis 
sion  of  Little,  Brown  &  Co 114 

Bienville,  from  an  old  engraving 115 

General  Wolfe,  from  an  old  engraving Il6 

James  Otis,  from  an  early  engraving,  by  permission  of  D.  Apple- 
ton  &  Co 135 

Patrick  Henry,  after  a  contemporary  miniature  .  .  .  .136 
New  Jersey  currency,  1763,  facsimile  of  original.  .  .  .138 

Samuel  Adams,  after  a  portrait  by  Copley 151 

The  Hancock  House,  from  an  original  engraving  .  .  .152 
Faneuil  Hall,  1776,  from  an  original  engraving  .  .  .  .156 
Thomas  Hutchinson,  after  Truman's  portrait  .  .  .  .  157 

Tea  Handbill,  from  an  early  engraving 160 

Joseph  Warren,  after  a  portrait  by  Copley,  by  permission  of  Little, 

Brown  &  Co 173 

George  Washington,  after  a  portrait  by  C.  W.  Peale  .  .  .  174 
Thomas  Paine's  American  Crisis,  facsimile  of  part  of  first  page  .  179 
Declaration  of  Independence,  facsimile  of  Jefferson's  original 

draft 182 

General  Stark,  from  Stark's  Memoir  of  John  Stark  .  .  .186 
General  Steuben,  after  a  portrait  in  New  York  City  Hall  .  .189 
General  Wayne,  after  a  sketch  by  Trumbull,  by  permission  of  the 

Lippincott  Company .     192 

Lafayette,  from  an  engraving  by  Ethion 194 

Nathan  Hale's  birthplace,  from  Stuart's  Life  of  Hale  .  .  '195 
General  Greene,  after  a  portrait  by  Trumbull  ....  197 
Virginia  currency,  1777,  facsimile  of  original  ....  201 
Continental  currency,  1775,  facsimile  of  original  ....  203 
Benjamin  Franklin,  after  a  portrait  by  Martin  ....  206 
John  Dickinson,  after  a  portrait  by  C.  W.  Peale  .  .  .  .217 
General  G.  R.  Clark,  after  a  portrait  by  Jarvis  ....  220 

Daniel  Boone,  after  a  portrait  by  Harding 223 

Fitch's  steamboat,  facsimile  of  cut  in  Columbian  Magazine,  1786  .     225 
Gouverneur  Morris,  from  a  contemporary  engraving    .         .         .     235 
Stratford  House,  from  a  contemporary  engraving          .         .         .     249 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  after  a  portrait  by  Chappel  ....     250^ 
Monticello,  Jefferson's  residence,  from  a  contemporary  print        .     260 
George  Washington,  1785,  after  a  mask  made  from  the  living  face     263 
Mount  Vernon,  view  of  the  West  Parlor,  from  a  photograph        .     264 
Mrs.  Alexander  Hamilton,  after  a  portrait  by  R.  Earl,  by  permis 
sion  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co 266 

Alexander  Hamilton,  from  a  miniature  by  Robertson  .         .         .     267 

John  Jay,  after  a  portrait  by  Stuart 278 

Mrs.  John  Jay,  from  a  contemporary  print 279 


xx  Maps  and  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Mrs.  John  Adams,  after  a  portrait  by  Schessele    .         .'       .         .     284 
John  Adams,  after  a  portrait  by  Stuart          .         ...         .     285 

Timothy  Pickering,  from  Pickering's  Life  of  Pickering,  by  per 
mission  of  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  and  Henry  Pickering,  Esq.  .     289 
Robert  Fulton,  after  a  portrait  by  A.  G.  de  Maury        .         .         .     302 
Eli  Whitney,  after  a  portrait  by  King  .      -  .      .  .      ...         .     303 

Thomas  Jefferson,  from  an  engraving  by  W.  Holl         .         .         .     309 
Albert  Gallatin,  from  engraving  in  Adams's  Gallatin,^  permission 

of  the  Lippincott  Company  and  A.  H.  Gallatin,  Esq.    .         .311 
John  Marshall,  after  a  portrait  by  Henry  Inman  .         .         .         .312 

Theodosia  Burr,  after  an  engraving  by  H.  Wright  Smith       .         .     320 
James  Madison,  after  a  portrait  by  Stuart     .         .         .         .         .328 

Mrs.  James  Madison,  after  a  portrait  by  Stuart     ....     329 

James  Monroe,  after  a  portrait  by  J.  Vanderlyn    ....     350 

Ashland,  Clay's  residence,  from  a  contemporary  print  .         .         .361 
John  Quincy  Adams,  from  an  engraving  by  J.  W.  Paradise  .         .     365 
Henry  Clay,  after  a  portrait  by  Charles  King        ....     367 

Andrew  Jackson,  after  a  portrait  by  Longacre       .         .         .         .     379 

Backwoodsman,  from  Basil  Hall's  Forty  Sketches,  1829  .  .  381 
Stagecoach,  from  Basil  Hall's  Forty  Sketches,  1829  .  .  .385 
Benjamin  Silliman,  by  permission  of  the  Eclectic  Company  .  389 

Benjamin  Peirce,  by  permission  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  .         .     389 

Asa  Gray,  by  permission  of  the  Eclectic  Company        .         .         .     389 

Joseph  Henry,  from  a  photograph 389 

James  D.  Dana,  by  permission  of  the  Eclectic  Company  .  .  389 
Webster's  house  at  Marshfield,  from  Webster's  Works  .  .  392 
Daniel  Webster,  from  a  photograph  of  Powers's  bust  .  .  .  393 
John  C.  Calhoun,  from  a  contemporary  engraving  .  .  .  396 
Samuel  Houston,  from  a  contemporary  engraving  .  .  .419 
Winfield  Scott,  after  a  daguerreotype  by  Gurney  ....  422 
Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  after  a  portrait  by  Cabanel  .  .  .  426 
Sutler's  mill,  from  a  contemporary  engraving  ....  427 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  from  a  contemporary  print  .  .  .431 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  from  a  contemporary  engraving  .  .  438 
Sumner  and  Longfellow,  from  a  contemporary  print  ,  .  .  446 
John  Brown,  from  a  contemporary  engraving  .  .  .  .451 
Francis  Parkman,  by  permission  of  the  Eclectic  Company  .  .  466 

Jared  Sparks,  after  a  portrait  by  Sully 466 

George  Bancroft,  after  a  photograph 466 

William  H.  Prescott,  from  a  photograph 466 

Washington  Irving,  from  a  portrait  by  Martin  ....  466 
William  C.  Bryant,  by  permission  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  .  468 

John  G.  Whittier,  by  permission  of  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  .  ,168 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  by  permission  of  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  .-r,S 


Maps  and  Illustrations  xxi 

PAGE 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  by  permission  of  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  468 

James  Russell  Lowell,  by  permission  of  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  468 
Wendell  Phillips,  from  Austin's  Phillips,  by  permission  of  Lee  and 

Shepard 470 

James  Buchanan,  after  a  daguerreotype  by  Brady          .         .         .  472 

Handbill  "To  Arms!"  1861,  facsimile  of  original         .         .         .  485 

Certificate  of  Deposit,  facsimile  of  original 490 

Confederate  States  Almanac,  1864,  title-page       ....  492 

Admiral  Farragut,  after  a  photograph  ......  504 

General  Grant,  after  a  photograph         ......  521 

General  Sherman,  after  a  photograph  ......  521 

General  Sheridan,  after  a  photograph 521 

General  Thomas,  after  a  photograph 521 

General  Hancock,  after  a  photograph 521 

Libby  Prison,  from  a  contemporary  print 526 

The  Washington  Monument,  from  a  photograph  ....  547 

J.  A.  Garfield,  after  a  photograph 550 

Grover  Cleveland,  after  a  photograph 554 

Benjamin  Harrison,  after  a  photograph 556 

Battleship  Oregon         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         -559 

Admiral  Devvey    ..........  561 

Admiral  Sampson          .........  562 

Admiral  Schley    .  •                 . 562 

Battleship  Iowa  in  Dry  Dock 563 

General  Miles 566 

General  Merritt 566 

General  Shafter 567 

Santiago  Harbor  and  City 568 

The  Brooklyn  Bridge,  from  a  photograph 574 

Elias  Howe,  after  a  photograph 576 

William  McKinley 581 


SCHOOL   LIBRARIES 

(The  price  of  each  book  is  given  in  parentheses.  These  figures  are 
taken  from  the  publishers'  trade  lists;  often  considerable  reductions  can 
be  obtained.) 

For  the  teacher:  Channing  and  Hart's  Guide  to  the  Study  of 
American  History.  Boston  :  Ginn  &  Co.  ($2.00.) 

THE   SMALLEST  LIBRARY 

Johnston's  A  merican  Politics.     New  York  :  Holt.      (80  cents.) 
Hart's  Epochs  of  American  History.     3  vols.     New  York  :  Longmans. 

(3  vols.,  $1.25  each.) 
Dodge's  Bird's-  Eye    View  of  our  Civil   War.   Boston:    Houghton. 


D.  C.  Heath's  Smaller  Outline  Maps  of  the  United  States  were  pre 
pared  by  Professor  Hart  and  the  present  writer  for  work  contemplated 
in  the  Suggestive  Questions. 


Hart  and  Channing's  American  History  Leaflets.     30  numbers.     New 

York:  Lovell.     (10  cents  each.) 
School  histories  of  England  and  of  France. 

A   GOOD    LIBRARY 
The  books  already  mentioned  and  the  following  works : 

Higginson's  Larger  History.     New  York  :   Harper's.     ($3.50.) 
Fisher's  Colonial  Era.     New  York  :   Scribner's.     ($1.25.) 
Walker's  Making  of  the  Nation.     New  York  :   Scribner's.     ($1.25.) 
Lodge's  English  Colonies.     New  York :  Harper's.     ($3.50.) 
Hinsdale's  American  Government.   Werner  School  Book  Co.     ($1.25.) 

xxii 


School  Libraries  xxiii 

Fiske's  New  England  (#2.00) ;   American  Revolution  (2  vols.  $4.00) ; 

Critical  Period  ($2.00).     Boston:  Houghton. 
Parkman's  Pioneers.     Boston:    Little.     ($1.50.)      Or,  Struggle  for  a 

Continent,  edited  by  T.  Edgar.     Boston:   Little.     ($1.50.) 
Stanwood's  Presidential  Elections.     Boston:   Houghton.     ($1.50.) 
Taussig's  Tariff  History.     New  York :  Putnam.     ($1.25.) 
Schouler's  United  States.     New  York :  Dodd.     (5  vols.  $17.25.) 
Rhodes's  United  States.     New  York :   Harper's.     (3  vols.  $7.50.) 
Tarr  and  McMurry's  North  America.     New  York :    Macmillan.     (75 

cents.)     Has  supplementary  volumes  on  separate  states. 
"  American  Statesmen  "   (Boston :    Houghton)  :    Lodge's  Washington 

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Carrington's  Battles  of  the  Revolution  ($6.00),  or  his  Washington. 

Lalor's  Cyclopedia  of  Political  Science.     Chicago.     (Subscription.) 

Stedman  and  Hutchinson's  Library  of  American  Literature,  13  vols., 
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Larned's  History  for  Ready  Reference.     (5  vols.  $5.00  each.) 


Clarke's  Anti-Slavery  Days. 
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Gardiner's  Puritan  Revolution,  Lecky's  England  (Vols.  Ill  and  IV), 

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Bryce's   American    Commonwealth,   abridged    edition.       New   York: 

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MacDonald's  Documents  illustrative  of  History  of  the  United  States. 

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cities. 


IMPORTANT   DATES 

The  more  important  dates  are  printed  in  bold-faced  type.  With  each 
date  the  student  should  associate  as  many  events  as  possible.  It  is 
better  to  learn  a  few  dates  correctly  than  it  is  to  remember  many  dates 
incorrectly.  Another  list  may  be  found  in  the  Guide,  p.  157. 

1492.    Columbus  (Discovery  of  America). 

1497.    John  Cabot  (Discovery  of  North  America). 

1513.     Ponce  de  Leon  (Florida)  and  Balboa  (Pacific). 

1524.     Verrazano  and  Gomez  (Atlantic  coast). 

1534.     Cartier  (the  French  in  the  St.  Lawrence). 

x 539-1 542.    De  Soto  and  Coronado  (the  Spaniards  in  the  United 

States). 

1588.    Defeat  of  the  Armada  (Beginnings  of  English  Colonization). 
1604.     Acadia  (the  French  in  the  North).  /" 

1607.    Virginia  (the  First  Permanent  English-American  Colony)  v 
1619.    Representative  Government  and  Slavery  in  Virginia. 
1620^  The  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  (the  First  Permanent  English 

Colony  in  the  North). 

1630.     The  "Great  Emigration  to  Massachusetts." 
1632.     Maryland  (the  Calverts  and  Toleration). 

1635.  Connecticut  (Constitutional  Development). 

1636.  Roger  Williams  (Separation  of  Church  and  State). 
1643.    New  England  Confederation. 

1649.  Maryland  Toleration  Act. 

1664.  English  Conquest  of  New  Netherland. 

1676.  Bacon's  Rebellion  and  King  Philip's  War. 

1689.  The  "Glorious  Revolution"  in  America. 

1701.  Pennsylvania  Charter  of  Privileges. 


xxvi  Important  Dates 

1713.  The  Treaty  of  Utrecht. 

1754.  Albany  Plan  of  Union. 

1763.  Peace  of  Paris  and  King's  Proclamation. 

1765.  The  Stamp  Act  (Henry's  Resolves). 

1767.  The  Townshend  Acts  (colonial  union). 

1774.  Massachusetts  Government  Act  and  First  Continental  Con 

gress. 

1775.  Lexington  and  Concord. 

1776.  Declaration  of  Independence. 
1781.    Articles  of  Confederation. 

1783.    Treaty  of  Peace  (Boundaries,  Debts,  etc.). 
1787.    The  Constitution  and  the  Northwest  Ordinance. 
1794-    Jay's  Treaty  (Foreign  Relations  and  Party  Organization). 
1798-1799.    Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions. 
1803.     Louisiana  Purchase. 

1812-1815.    War  with  England  (Neutral  Commerce  and  Impress 
ment)  . 

1814.     Hartford  Convention. 
1820.    Missouri  Compromise. 
1823.    The  Monroe  Doctrine. 
1832.     The  Nullification  Episode. 
1845.     Annexation  of  Texas. 
1846-1848.     Mexican  War. 
1850.    Compromise  on  Slavery. 
1854.    Kansas-Nebraska  Act. 
1857.    The  Dred  Scott  Case. 
1861-1865.    The  Civil  War. 
1863.    Emancipation  Proclamation. 
1867.     Reconstruction  Act. 
1883.     Civil  Service  Reform. 
1898.     Spanish  War. 


SPECIMEN    DIGEST 


A  Century  of 

Colonial 

History. 


THE  COLONIES 
DURING  RES 
TORATION 
PERIOD,  1660- 
1688. 


THE  COLONIES 
UNDER  THE 
ENGLISH 
WHIGS,  1688- 
1760. 


Acts. 


The  Puritans  and  the 
Massachusetts.  Quakers ;  the  English 

government  and  Massa 
chusetts  ;   Declaration  of 
Rights,  1661 ;  the  Com 
mission  of  1664. 

Charters  of  Connecticut,  1662 ;  and  of  Rhode  Island, 

1663. 

Conquest  of  New  Nether  land,  1664. 
New  Jersey,  1664. 

(William  Penn ;  bound 
aries  ;  Penn  and  the 
Indians;  government. 

The  Carolina  charters ; 
settlement ;  founding  of 
Charleston ;  the  Funda 
mental  Constitutions. 


Virginia. 


Constitutional  Struggle. 


Constitutional  Strug 
gles. 

Georgia,  1732. 


Expulsion  of  the 
French. 


Grievances  of  the  Vir 
ginians  ;  Bacon's  Re 
bellion. 

Overthrow  of  Massachu 
setts'  charter,  1684;  the 
Stuart  Tyranny  in  New 
England ;  the  Glorious 
Revolution  in  America, 
1688-89. 

Policy  of  the  new  govern 
ment  ;  the  Carolinas ; 
constitutional  progress. 

Early  French  and  Indian 
Wars,  1690-1748 ;  settle 
ment  of  Louisiana,  1699  ; 
expulsion  of  the  French, 
1754-63 ;  Treaty  and 
Proclamation  of  1763 ; 
Albany  Plan,  1754. 


General  View  of  Colonial  conditions  in  1760. 
xxxi 


125 


115 


110 


105 


100 


45 


No.  I.    THE  UNITED  STATES,  SHOWING 


«JO 


80 


Green  represents  plains  low  and  marshy  near  the  coast 
which  generally  rise  to  uplands  in  the  interior,  trenched 
by  flood  plain  valleys  along  the  paths  of  the  chief  rivers. 
The  coast  marshes  and  the  flood  plain  of  the  lower 
Mississippi  are  colored  a  lighter  green. 


Greenwich 


is  OF  LAND  AND  PRINCIPAL  RIVERS 


THE  UNITED  STATES 

INTRODUCTION 

THE   LAND   AND   ITS   RESOURCES 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings. — Shaler  in  Winsor's  America,  IV,  pp.  i-xxx, 
especially  pp.  xx— xxx. 

Special  Accounts.  —  *Shaler  in  his  United  States,  I,  chs.  i-iii, 
vii-ix  ;  Tarr  and  McMurry's  North  America. 

Sources  and  Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Liuide  to 
American  History,  §§  21,  21  a,  21  b,  77. 

Maps.  —  United  States  Geological  Survey,  United  States  Relief  Map 
and  Contour  Map.  Wall  Map  :  United  States  Land  Office,  Map  of 
the  United  States.  The  maps  in  Frye's  Geography  give  an  excellent 
idea  of  the  topography. 

THE   LAND   AND   ITS   RESOURCES 

i.    Geography  and  History.  — The  life  of  a  nation  depends   influence  of 
mainly  on  its  moral  and  mental  make-up  and  the  opportuni-   geography 

r  .  ,  .   ,  i          i       •  i  •      •  .          „       on  history. 

ties  of  improvement  which  are  placed  within  its  reach.  On 
the  one  hand,  the  Spanish-Americans  have  made  slight  use 
of  the  great  natural  resources  of  South  and  Central  America  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Danes  have  accomplished  little  in 
Greenland.  In  the  territory  now  occupied  by  the  Ameri 
can  nation,  a  strong  people  found  opportunities  for  develop 
ment  such  as  no  other  country  of  equal  size  possesses.  In 
the  present  chapter  will  be  found  a  brief  description  of  the 
great  natural  resources  which  a,  kind  Providence  has  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States. 
Without  this  knowledge,  the  student  will  seek  in  vain  to 
understand  the  history  of  the  American  people. 


,2,  The  Land  and  its  Resources  [§2 

influence  of  Since  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  appli- 
scientific  dis-  cation  of  steam  to  modes  of  transport  has  greatly  lessened 
history  tne  importance  of  many  natural  forces.  The  railroad  and 

the  steamboat  have  overcome  in  great  measure  the  obstacles 
to  intercourse  offered  by  distance,  by  mountain  systems,  and 
by  river  courses.  The  markets  of  the  world  are  now  more 
accessible  to  the  farmer  on  the  western  prairies  than  they 
were  to  the  cultivator  of  central  New  York  in  1820.  Mod 
ern  scientific  discoveries  have  enabled  man  to  make  a  better 
use  of  fertile  soils  and  rich  mineral  deposits.  As  yet,  how 
ever,  science  has  not  been  able  to  increase  the  rainfall  of  a 
rainless  region  or  to  moderate  the  climate  so  far  as  to  affect 
agriculture.  The  historical  student  ought  to  note  every 
important  application  of  science  to  the  improvement  of 
The  cotton  the  mechanical  arts.  If  the  cotton  gin  (§  218)  had  never 
g'"'.1^65'5  been  invented,  it  is  probable  that  slavery  would  have  been 

United  States,  r 

j(  26.  peaceably   abolished  in  the  South   before    1825.     On   the 

other  hand,  if  slavery  had  been  profitable  in  Pennsylvania 
and  the  Middle  West  it  might  still  be  in  existence.  Of 
all  natural  forces,  the  climate  and  rainfall  are  the  most  im 
portant,  because  an  excess  of  cold  or  an  absence  of  rain 
forbids  the  development  of  human  activity. 

2.  Temperature  of  America  and  of  Europe.  —  On  the 
following  pages  are  maps  showing  the  lines  of  equal  tem 
perature  for  Europe  and  North  America. 

Climate  and  It  will  be  seen  that  those  portions  of  Europe  which  have 
civilization.  been  tne  seat  of  t^e  greatest  activity  and  the  abode  of  the 
highest  civilization  are  situated  between  the  lines  of  average 
annual  temperature  of  forty  and  seventy  degrees.  These 
countries  are  Norway  and  Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany, 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  Netherlands,  France,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Italy.  The  winter  temperature  of  these  lands 
is  between  twenty  and  sixty  degrees,  and  the  summer  tem 
perature  between  fifty  and  eighty  degrees. 

Turning  now  to  the  western  side  of  the  Atlantic,  it  is  evi 
dent  that  these  conditions  are  nowhere  reproduced  with  ex 
actness.  A  glance,  however,  suffices  to  show  that  the  United 


§  2]          Temperature  of  America  and  Europe 


States,  as  a  whole,  enjoys  about  the  same  annual  tempera 
ture  as  western  Europe  as  a  whole,  but  the  winters  are  much 
colder  and  the  summers  are  much  warmer  in  America  than 
in  Europe.  A  further  remarkable  fact  is  also  revealed  :  the 
annual  and  the  winter  temperature  lines  turn  sharply  to  the 
south  as  they  approach  the  American  coast  and  become 
pinched  together.  The  summer  lines,  on  the  other  hand, 
pursue  a  more  direct  westerly  course,  and  some  of  them 
even  trend  to  the  northwestward.  The  southward  trend  of 


Tempera 
tures  of 
America  and 
Europe  com 
pared. 
Shaler's 
United  States, 
I,  9,  23- 


Lines  of  equal  temperature,  annual 

the  two  former  sets  of  lines  indicates  that  the  valuable  por 
tions  of  eastern  North  America  are  far  to  the  south  of  the 
corresponding  portions  of  European  lands.  For  example, 
the  southern  end  of  Greenland  and  the  entrance  to  Hudson 
Strait  are  in  the  same  latitude  (sixty  degrees  north  latitude) 
as  the  southern  end  of  Sweden,  but  the  winters  are  very 
much  more  severe  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter.  The  Effects  of 
cause  of  the  failure  of  many  early  colonies  is  now  evident.  this  dlffer" 

•  J  J  _       ence  in  tem- 

The  old  voyagers  were  ignorant  of  this  great  difference  in   perature. 
the  climates  of  Europe  and  America ;  they  expected  to  find 
similar  conditions  prevailing  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 


The  Land  and  its  Resources 


[§* 


They  were  further  led  into  error  through  the  fact  that  their 
explorations  were  made  in  the  summer,  when  the  climatic 
conditions  of  the  two  sides  of  the  North  Atlantic  most 
nearly  resemble  one  another.  For  instance,  Weymouth, 
who  visited  the  coast  of  Maine  in  the  summer,  found  a 
temperature  which  resembled  that  of  southern  France;  but 
the  colonists  who  came  over  in  consequence  of  his  favorable 
reports  found  a  winter  temperature  like  that  of  northern 
Norway. 

Furthermore,  the  charts  give  average  temperatures,  and 
in  this  way  tell  only  a  portion  of  the  story ;  for  the  extremes 


Lines  of  equal  temperature,  February 

of  heat  and  cold  are  much  greater  on  the  western  than  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Atlantic.  For  example,  Savannah 
has  a  mean  winter  temperature  not  unlike  that  of  Cadiz,  in 
Spain.  The  actual  climate,  however,  is  very  different,  as 
there  are  frosts  at  Savannah  and  none  at  Cadiz.  It  follows 
from  this  that  tender  trees,  like  orange  trees,  will  thrive  in 
the  vicinity  of  Cadiz,  but  will  be  killed  or  seriously  injured 
in  the  country  around  Savannah. 

This  difference  in  the  winter  temperature  of  the  two  sides 


3] 


Temperature  of  the  United  States 


of  the  North  Atlantic  is  easily  explained:    the  warm  cur-   Cause  of  the 
rents  of  the  North  Atlantic  bear  the  heat  of  the  Gulf  of  difference- 
Mexico  and  the  tropical  regions  of  America  away  from  the 
eastern  coast  of  that  continent  and  give  it  to  the  western 
coast  of  Europe.     Moreover,  the  prevailing  winds  of  North 
America  are  from  west  to  east,  —  they  are  cold  in  winter 
and   spring,  and   increase    the   difference   in   temperature 
caused  by  the  action  of  the  ocean  currents. 

3.  Temperature  of  the  United  States.  —  The  conditions 
as  to  currents  of  air  and  water  on  the  western  coast  of  the 
United  States  are  like  those  which  prevail  on  the  western 


Paclfic 


Lines  of  equal  temperature,  August 

coast  of  Europe.     A  study  of  the  temperature  charts  dis 

closes  the  fact  that  the  lines,  as  they  approach  the  Pacific 

shore,  spread  out  to  a  very  marked  extent.     Thus  the  line   Temperature 

of  mean  annual  temperature  of  forty  degrees  reaches  the 

Pacific   near   the   sixtieth   parallel,   fifteen   degrees   farther 

north  than  it  leaves  the  Atlantic.     The  case  is  even  more 

marked  as  to  the  winter  temperature,  as  the  line  of  thirty 

degrees   leaves   western   Europe  and   western  America   in 

nearly  the  same  parallel.     The  summer  temperatures  of  the 


The  Land  and  its  Resources 


r§3 


Tempera 
ture  of  the 
Mississippi 
basin  and 
Atlantic 
coast. 


Extremes  of 
temperature. 


Political  re 
sults  of  cli 
matic  condi 
tions. 


Pacific  slope,  however,  are  on  the  whole  higher  than  those 
of  western  Europe. 

In  the  interior  of  the  two  countries  the  difference  is 
widely  marked.  A  mountain  barrier,  the  Cordilleran  sys 
tem,  traverses  the  American  continent  from  north  to  south, 
and  effectually  prevents  the  winds  of  the  Pacific  slope  from 
moderating  the  climate  of  the  interior  ;  but  there  is  no  such 
mountain  barrier  in  western  Europe.  The  winter  lines,  on 
leaving  the  Pacific  coast,  trend  sharply  southward,  and  the 
interior  of  the  continent  from  the  one  hundredth  meridian 
eastward  has  practically  the  same  average  temperatures  as 
the  Atlantic  coast  region  in  the  same  latitudes,  but  the  ex 
tremes  of  tempe  rature  are  even  greater  in  the  interior  than 
on  the  eastern  seaboard.  The  cold  winds  from  the  Cordil 
leras  and  from  the  frozen  regions  of  Canada  sweep  down 
from  the  west  and  north,  and  produce  great  intensity  of 
cold.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  summer  time,  hot  winds 
frequently  blow  from  the  south  and  raise  the  temperature 
to  a  very  high  degree.  The  effects  of  these  cold  and  warm 
"  waves,"  as  they  are  generally  termed,  are  very  great ;  the 
mercury  is  occasionally  frozen  in  Wisconsin  and  Michigan, 
and  even  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  the  thermometer  at  Galves- 
ron,  Texas,  has  been  known  to  fall  fifty-four  degrees  in 
eighteen  hours.  The  hot  waves  often  produce  extremely 
high  temperatures,  reaching  one  hundred  degrees  in  Iowa 
and  the  neighboring  states,  and  frequently  attaining  ninety- 
two  and  over  even  on  the  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes,  whose 
waters  moderate  the  heats  of  summer. 

The  pinching  together  of  the  temperature  lines  on  the 
eastern  coast  means  that  within  the  comparatively  limited 
area  stretching  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
agricultural  conditions  prevail  which  in  the  Old  World  are 
associated  with  regions  extending  from  the  North  Cape  to 
the  Desert  of  Sahara.  Each  group  of  colonies  and  states 
has  had  its  own  industries,  habits  of  living,  and  modes  of 
thought.  This  fact  has  exerted  its  influence  by  dividing 
the  people  of  the  United  States  into  sections  and,  to  a 


§  4]  Rainfall  7 

great  extent,  has  determined  the  political  history  of  the 
nation. 

4.    Rainfall.  —  The  temperature  of  a  country  determines   Effects  of 

its  agricultural  produce  :  thus  Indian  corn  demands  a  good  temperature 

...  .    .          .  ,  and  of  rainfall 

degree  of  heat,  while  cotton  will  not  thrive  without  a  greater   compared. 

intensity  of  heat.  Corn,  furthermore,  is  peculiarly  sensitive 
to  frosts,  and  will  not  ripen  where  they  occur  early  in  the 
autumn.  Of  equal  importance  is  the  amount  and  distribu 
tion  of  moisture.  If  the  rainfall  is  excessive,  the  cotton 
plant  makes  a  rank  growth,  or  becomes  so  choked  with 
weeds  that  it  will  not  grow  at  all ;  but  if  it  does  not  have 
abundant  moisture,  it  will  not  thrive.  Corn,  on  the  other 
hand,  absorbs  moisture  from  the  air,  and  will  grow  in  seasons 
of  drought,  when  other  plants  perish. 

..Experience  has  shown  that  an  annual  rainfall  of  at  least   Importance 
twenty  inches  is  essential  to  profitable   agriculture.     It   is  °famount 

i. - and  distribu- 

true  that  a  large  number  of  important  food  plants,  as  corn,   tion  of 

will  thrive  on  a  less  amount  of  moisture  provided  it  is  well  moisture, 
distributed.  Unfortunately,  however,  as  the  average  rainfall 
decreases  below  twenty-five  inches,  the  variation  in  the  pre 
cipitation  increases  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  total  amount. 
A  diminution  of  five  inches  in  any  one  year  would  make  little 
difference  in  a  region  of  thirty  inches  of  average  rainfall,  but 
it  would  be  fatal  to  the  year's  crops  in  a  region  of  twenty 
inches  of  annual  precipitation.  Cultivation  is  only  cer 
tain  where  the  average  rainfall  is  over  twenty-five  inches ; 
although  it  is  possible,  but  hazardous,  in  regions  of  twenty 
inches.  Districts  of  from  ten  to  twenty  inches  of  rainfall 
are  suited,  as  a  rule,  to  grazing,  but  below  ten  inches  vegeta 
tion  of  a  valuable  sort  practically  ceases.  On  the  other  hand, 
a  rainfall  much  exceeding  fifty  inches  produces  a  rank  growth 
harmful  to  most  plants  suited  to  the  soil  and  climate  of  the 
United  States,  although  a  few  plants,  as  rice  and  the  sugar 
cane7demand  a  large  amount  of  moisture.  Regions  of  over 
sixty  inches  of  rainfaU  are  suited  only  to  these  plants,  but 
cotton  will  thrive  when  the  rainfall  is  as  much  as  fifty-five 
inches,  and  it  demands  as  much  as  forty  inches. 


8 


The  Land  and  its  Resources 


[§5 


Distribution 
of  rain  in  the 
United 
States. 


District  of 
scanty  rain 
fall.    Shaler's 
United  States , 


Rainfall  at 
the  Pacific 
coast. 


Irrigation. 


An  examination  of  the  map  showing  the  average  annual 
rainfall  of  the  United  States  shows  us  that  the  country  east 
of  the  one  hundredth  meridian  enjoys  an  abundant  rainfall, 
which  gradually  increases  as  one  proceeds  to  the  east  and 
southeast.  Extensive  failures  of  crops  are  rare,  although 
they  sometimes  occur  from  a  lack  of  rain  during  the  grow 
ing  season;  failures  from  an  excess  of  moisture  are  even 
more  rare. 

West  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian,  especially  in  the 
summer,  the  rainfall  rapidly  decreases  toward  the  west  and 
southwest  —  the  temperature  rising  as  the  rainfall  declines. 
In  this  way  are  produced  large  areas  of  hot  and  arid  lands 
ill  fitted,  or  not  fitted  at  all,  to  cultivation,  or  even  to  graz 
ing,  unless  artificial  irrigation  is  resorted  to,  excepting  nar 
row  strips  along  some  of  the  river  valleys.  The  winters 
of  this  region  are  also  longer  and  more  severe  than  those 
of  the  country  farther  east. 

This  district  of  scanty  rainfall  extends  to  the  coast  ranges 
of  the  Pacific.  The  valley  lowlands  of  the  Pacific,  with  the 
exception  of  the  valley  of  the  Colorado,  enjoy,  not  merely 
abundant  moisture,  but  high  temperature  in  the  river  bot 
toms,  which  rapidly  diminish  as  the  altitude  increases. 
The  result  of  these  conditions  is  a  marvelous  cultivation ; 
oranges  and  wheat  grow  within  a  comparatively  short  dis 
tance  of  one  another.  There  are  arid  districts  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  the  rainfall  is  not  evenly  distributed ; 
but  the  nearness  of  the  rain-bearing  mountains  makes 
irrigation  comparatively  easy.  The  same  system  is  also 
applicable  to  large  regions  east  of  the  mountains,  but  the 
size  of  the  districts  requiring  irrigation,  and  the  distance 
of  the  water  supply,  make  the  carrying  out  of  the  enterprise 
exceedingly  expensive.  The  returns  from  irrigated  lands 
are  usually  large,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  means  will  be 
found  to  develop  the  system  in  these  warm  arid  regions 
west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian. 

5.  Physical  Formation  of  North  America.  —  Students  of 
history  and  geography  have  long  been  agreed  that,  within 


§  s]        Physical  Formation  of  North  America  9 

certain  limitations  as  to  rainfall  and  temperature,  the  physi-   Influence  of 

cal  formation  of  a  country,  the  character  of  its  soils,  and  the   Physical  .faj> 
.  tors  on  civil- 

extent  and  variety  of  its  mineral  deposits  exercise  a  decisive   ization. 

influence  on  the  life  of  the  people  which  inhabits  it.     To 

insure   the   best  development,  a  country  must   offer   easy 

access  to  the  outer  world.     This  is  especially  true  of  new  Necessity  of 

regions,  which  require  to  be  colonized  from  Europe.    North   ease  of 

America,  especially  that  portion  occupied  by  the  eastern 


Average  annual  rainfall 

half  of  the  United  States,  offers  every  inducement  to  the 
voyager  to  reach  its  shores.  The  low-lying  Alleghany  sys 
tem,  which  protected  the  colonies  from  the  savage  aborigines 
of  the  interior,  has  proved  to  be  easily  surmountable  by  the 
railroad  of  modern  times. 

Before  the  days  of  steam,  the  Mississippi  basin  was  diffi-   Of  the 
cult  of  access.     Many  writers  speak  of  the  Mississippi  and   Mississippi 
the  St.  Lawrence  as  the  keys  or  gateways  to  the  continent, 
In  a  limited  military  sense  this  is  true ;  but  only  in  a  limited  nists. 


10 


The  Land  and  its  Resources 


(2)  Gateway 
on  the  con 
tinent. 

(3)  Pacific 
approaches. 


Description 
of  Atlantic 
seaboard. 


sense.  The  St.  Lawrence  empties  into  the  Atlantic  far  to 
the  north,  where  the  winters  are  severe.  Its  lower  valley  is 
very  narrow  and  is  beyond  the  home  of  Indian  corn,  the 
American  food  stuff,  whose  easy  culture  and  great  returns 
made  colonization  farther  south  comparatively  easy.  The 
lower  St.  Lawrence  is  in  reality  a  fiordlike  arm  of  the  sea, 
and  is  navigable  —  though  with  peril  —  by  seagoing  ships. 
At  Montreal,  the  seagoing  vessel  is  stopped  by  a  rocky  bar 
rier —  the  Lachine  Rapids.  It  was  easy  for  the  Indian 
trader  or  the  soldier  to  evade  this  and  other  obstacles  to 
the  interior ;  but  it  was  difficult  for  the  colonist  to  transport 
his  family,  implements,  and  supplies  to  fertile  regions  on  the 
southern  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes.  Besides,  the  St.  Law 
rence  is  frozen  over  for  one  half  of  the  year,  and  ice  closes 
the  lakes  to  navigation  for  nearly  an  equal  period.  The 
Mississippi  is  not  frozen  except  in  its  northern  portion,  and 
its  course  is  not  barred  by  rocks  for  thousands  of  miles  ;  but 
it  offered  no  less  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  colonists  in  its 
tireless  current,  winding  course,  and  recurring  shallows.  The 
real  gateway  to  the  interior  was  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
of  the  United  States,  through  the  passes  of  the  Alleghanies 
or  around  the  southern  extremity  of  that  mountain  system. 

The  Pacific  coast  is  less  inaccessible.  The  Golden  Gate 
leads  to  the  great  lowland  valley  of  the  Sacramento  and  the 
San  Joaquin ;  the  Columbia  affords  access  to  fertile  valleys, 
and  Puget  Sound  opens  up  another  region  to  the  colonist. 
The  Pacific  slope,  however,  was  far  removed  from  the  colo 
nizing  centers  of  Europe,  and  its  first  settlers  came,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  overland  from  Mexico,  and  not  by  water 
from  Europe.  Hundreds  of  miles  of  rugged  mountains 
separate  this  region  from  the  Mississippi  basin.  We  will 
now  examine  the  three  geographical  divisions  of  the  United 
States  more  in  detail. 

6.  The  Atlantic  Seaboard. — This  section  extends  from 
the  water  parting  which  divides  the  rivers  falling  into  the 
Atlantic  from  those  flowing  into  the  Mississippi  and  St. 
Lawrence.  It  is  about  four  hundred  miles  wide  and  two 


§  6]  The  Atlantic  Seaboard  1 1 

thousand  miles  long.  It  possesses  sufficient  rainfall,  and  a  Shaier's 
range  of  temperature  such  as  is  found  on  the  other  side  of  UmtedStates, 
the  Atlantic  from  the  Arctic  Circle  to  Cape  de  Verde  on  the 
western  coast  of  Africa.  It  is  protected  on  the  west  by 
the  Appalachian  mountain  system,  which  extends  from  out 
side  the  limits  of  the  United  States  to  central  Alabama. 
Never  more  than  four  hundred  miles  in  width,  the  Appala 
chians  are  divided  into  sections  lengthwise  by  fertile  valleys 
more  than  six  hundred  miles  in  length,  extending  southward 
from  New  Jersey  to  North  Carolina.  The  western  range 
(usually  termed  the  Alleghanies)  seldom  rises  to  more  than 
five  thousand  feet,  and  is  generally  fit  for  the  plow.  The 
eastern  range  (sometimes  called  the  old  Appalachian  chain) 
is  higher,  and  interspersed  in  all  directions  with  fertile 
valleys. 

The  most  important  breaks  in  this  long  chain  are  those  Passes  of  the 
between  the  Hudson  and  the  St.  Lawrence  by  Lake  Cham-  Appalachian 
plain,  and  between  the  Hudson  and  the  Great  Lakes  by  the 
valley  of  the  Mohawk.  The  most  important  river  of  this 
region  is  the  Hudson,  which  is  really  an  arm  of  the  sea  or  a 
tidal  river.  For  more  than  one  half  of  its  length,  it  lies 
between  high  banks,  and  the  influence  of  the  sea  is  felt  even 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk.  The  low  elevation  of  these 
breaks  in  the  Alleghanies  can  be  best  understood,  perhaps, 
from  the  statement  that  a  rise  in  the  sea  level  of  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty-two  feet  would  convert  all  the  country  east  of 
the  Hudson  and  Lake  Champlain  into  an  island,  and  a 
similar  rise  of  four  hundred  feet  would  separate  from  the 
continent  all  that  tract  included  between  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  lower  Hudson,  the  Mohawk,  and  the  Atlantic.  The 
Hudson  River  and  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  were  plainly 
provided  by  nature  to  serve  as  a  means  of  communication 
between  the  fertile  lands  of  the  Ohio  valley  and  the  sea. 
Other  passes,  as  Cumberland  Gap,  lead  over  the  Alleghanies, 
but  none  have  these  easy  grades.  The  seaport  which  con 
trols  the  commerce  of  the  Hudson  is  necessarily  the  greatest 
business  center  of  the  Atlantic  seacoast. 


12 


The  Land  and  its  Resources 


[§7 


Natural 
resources. 


Character 
istics  of  the 
interior 
basin. 
Shaler's 
United 
States,  I, 
ch.  iii. 


The  Ohio 

valley. 


The  region  extending  from  the  Alleghanies  to  the  sea  is 
on  the  whole  of  remarkable  fertility.  Near  the  coast  are 
salt  marshes,  which  are  at  present  of  little  use.  Between  the 
mountain  crest  and  the  low-lying  sea  area,  there  is  a  sudden 
break  in  the  continuity  of  the  plain.  This  point  is  usually 
marked  by  falls  in  the  rivers,  which  furnish,  from  Virginia 
northward,  unrivaled  water  power  for  the  turning  of  the 
machinery  of  mills.  The  whole  region  is  well  forested  and 
suitable  to  the  growth  of  wheat,  corn,  tobacco,  and  cotton. 
It  contains  some  of  the  richest  coal  fields  and  beds  of  iron 
in  the  world.  Everywhere  splendid  harbors,  sheltered  in 
land  bays,  and  navigable  rivers  laid  open  the  country  to  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  century  colonist,  and,  in  our 
own  day,  afford  outlets  for  the  products  of  the  country. 
Great  as  are  the  natural  advantages  of  the  Atlantic  slope, 
those  of  the  Mississippi  basin  are  even  greater. 

7.  The  Mississippi  Basin.  —  This  section  extends  from 
the  crest  of  the  Alleghanies  to  the  crest  of  the  eastern  divi 
sion  of  the  Cordilleran  system,  or  the  Rocky  Mountains,  as 
they  are  usually  termed.  It  contains  not  far  from  one 
million  square  miles  of  land,  nearly  all  of  which  is  suitable 
to  the  uses  of  man.  It  is  a  nearly  level  area,  sloping  gently 
from  the  west  and  the  east  to  the  center,  and  from  the  north 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  for  the  most  part  a  table-land, 
varying  from  six  thousand  to  three  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea  level,  trenched  by  flood-plain  valleys  along  the  paths  of 
the  principal  rivers.  With  the  exception  of  the  flood  plain 
of  the  Mississippi  below  the  thirty-sixth  parallel,  the  river 
bottoms  are  narrow,  and  the  whole  basin  is  free  from  the 
diseases  and  dangers  of  low-lying  countries,  to  a  degree 
equaled  by  no  other  very  great  river  basin.  A  better  idea  of 
its  vast  size  may  be  gathered  from  the  statement  that  the 
distance  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
is  eleven  hundred  miles,  and  from  that  point  to  Pittsburgh 
is  fully  one  thousand  miles  more. 

Measured  by  the  amount  of  water  contributed  to  the 
main  stream,  the  Ohio  is  the  largest  branch  of  the  Missis- 


§  7]  The  Mississippi  Basin  1 3 

sippi.  A  common  misconception  is  to  regard  the  Ohio  val 
ley  as  including  only  the  portion  north  of  the  river,  probably 
because  of  the  situation  of  the  state  of  Ohio.  In  reality, 
the  valley  of  the  Tennessee  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  Ohio 
basin  as  the  valley  of  the  Allegheny.  This  basin  is  the 
richest  single  division  of  the  continent :  the  temperature  is 
practically  the  same  as  that  of  the  Atlantic  slope ;  the  rain 
fall  is  abundant ;  the  soil  is  fertile  and  admirably  suited  to 
the  production  of  corn  and  wheat,  and  the  mineral  resources 
are  exceedingly  rich.  This  basin  was  forest-clad  at  the 
coming  of  the  whites,  but  there  were  large  spaces  of  cleared 
land  which  could  be  at  once  used  by  the  settler. 

West  of  the  Wabash,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio,  The  prairies, 
there  were  no  trees  except  in  the  river  bottoms.  This  was 
owing  to  the  Indian  practice  of  burning  the  grass  to  provide 
fresh  fields  for  the  buffaloes  or  bisons.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  natural  condition  of  this  treeless  region  as  far  west  as 
the  one  hundredth  meridian  to  prevent  the  growth  of  trees, 
and  already  they  are  springing  up  around  the  homesteads 
of  the  dwellers  in  those  districts.  West  of  the  one  hun 
dredth  meridian,  until  the  slopes  of  the  Rockies  are  reached, 
the  rainfall  is  too  scanty  for  tree  life,  and  this  is  true  of  the 
Great  Basin  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  proper  and  the 
Cascade  and  Sierra  Nevada  ranges.  The  treeless  region 
from  the  Wabash  to  the  one  hundredth  meridian,  including 
the  valley  of  the  upper  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri,  is  ad 
mirably  fertile  and  suited  to  the  growth  of  com  and  wheat, 
the  latter  in  the  northern  portion.  The  winters  are  severe, 
the  summers  are  often  hot,  and  the  rainfall  is  sometimes  not 
sufficient  for  the  growing  plants.  Taking  everything  into 
consideration,  however,  this  district  is  the  best  wheat  and 
corn  country  in  the  world.  There  are  also  large  deposits  of 
coal,  and  most  valuable  mines  of  iron,  copper,  lead,  and 
zinc. 

The  soil  of  the  lower  Mississippi  valley  is  exceedingly  fer-  Lower  Mis- 
tile,  the  rainfall  is  abundant,  and  the  climate  is  suited  to  the  swsippi  vai- 
growth  of  plants  which  require  a  good  deal  of  moisture,  as 


14  The  Land  and  its  Resources  [§  8 

cotton  and  the  sugar  cane.  The  flood  plain  has  been  sub 
dued  by  the  erection  of  dikes,  known  locally  as  levees,  and 
only  about  six  thousand  square  miles  of  this  fertile  region  is 
too  swampy  for  redemption,  except  at  great  cost.  Taken 
all  together,  and  weighing  the  advantages  and  disadvantages, 
it  may  safely  be  said  that  there  is  no  other  land  of  its  size  on 
the  earth's  surface  so  admirably  suited  to  the  purposes  of 
man  as  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi. 

Resources  of       8.    The   Cordilleran   Region.  —  The    Cordilleran    system 
the  Cordil-       occupies  the  whole  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  one 
Shaier-s*"0*'   nundred  and  nfth  meridian,  with  the  exception  of  the  upper 
iMtedstates,   valley  of  the  Missouri  and  the  valley  lowlands  of  the  Pacific 
I,  ch.  iii.          slope.     It  is  fully  one  thousand  miles  wide  on  the  forty-sec 
ond  parallel.      The  mineral  resources  of   this  district  are 
great  and  varied ;   they  comprise  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead, 
tin,  iron  ores,  and  coal.    The  climate  is  healthy ;  but  it  is  too 
dry  for  agriculture,  except  by  irrigation,  which   his  yielded 
large  returns  wherever  tried.     The  Great  Basin  in   the  in 
terior  has  an  altitude  of  four  thousand  feet  and  over ;  its 
excessive  dryness  renders  portions  of  it  unfit  for  pasturage. 

The  Pacific  coast  district  includes  the  valley  lowlands  of 
the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers  and  of  the  Columbia 
and  Willamette  rivers.  The  temperature  of  Southern  Cali 
fornia  is  singularly  uniform,  but  in  the  lowland  valley  of  the 
Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  the  heat  is  often  oppressive. 
No  rain  falls  in  the  summer,  but  the  annual  rainfall  on  the 
whole  is  abundant,  and  the  country  admirably  suited  to  irri 
gation.  Almost  any  crop  can  be  grown,  as  wheat,  oranges, 
olives.  The  mineral  resources  are  great,  with  the  exception 
of  iron  ;  gold,  especially,  is  abundant. 

The  valley  of  the  lower  Columbia  enjoys  a  uniform  tem 
perature  and  abundant  moisture  ;  indeed,  in  places  the  rain 
fall  is  excessive  and  the  climate  more  nearly  resembles  that 
of  England  than  does  that  of  any  other  portion  of  America. 
The  soil  is  deep  and  fertile,  and  the  forest  covering  admira 
ble  and  of  great  value.  Little  has  been  done  as  yet  to 
develop  its  mineral  resources. 


§9] 


Adaptability  of  the  Continent 


9.  Adaptability  of  the  Continent. — The  agricultural  and 
the  mining  regions  are  arranged  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
greater  portion  of  the  country  is  suited  to  varied  occupa 
tions,  which  are  necessary  to  give  the  best  results  in  the 
growth  of  a  race.  The  climate  is  also  suited  to  Europeans. 
Formerly,  it  was  the  habit  of  foreign  writers  to  "picture  the 
American  as  a  thin,  lanky  man,  quite  inferior  physically  to 
his  European  ancestor.  The  application  of  scientific  methods 
to  this  problem  has  dispelled  this  as  well  as  other  delusions 
of  a  less  critical  age. 

During  the  Civil  war,  thousands  of  soldiers  in  the  Union 
armies  were  carefully  measured.  These  men  were  drawn 


Effect  of  this 
environment 
on  men  of 
European 
origin. 
Shaler's 
United  States, 
II,  ch.  ix; 
Winsor's 
America,  IV. 


CHEST  ( 

INCHES) 

NATIVITY 

HEIGHT 
(INCHES) 

WEIGHT 
(POUNDS) 

Full 

After  ~* 

inspiration 

inspiration 

New  England 

67.8 

139 

36.7 

34-1 

Middle  States 

67.5 

140 

37-° 

34-3 

Ohio,  Indiana 

68.1 

H5 

37-5 

34-9 

England 

66.7 

J37 

36-9 

34-3 

Ireland 

66.9 

139 

37-5    - 

35-2 

Germany 

66.6 

140 

37-2 

34-7 

from  all  portions  of  the  country,  and  also  included  thousands 
of  recent  immigrants  from  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  Ger 
many.  The  results  of  these  measurements  were  published 
in  a  remarkable  book,  from  which  the  above  table  has 
been  compiled.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  American,  instead 
of  being  the  tall,  thin-chested,  and  light-weighted  man  he  is 
always  described  as  being,  is  practically  as  heavy  and  as  stout 
as  the  newcomers  from  Europe ;  he  is  slightly  taller,  but 
only  slightly. 

When  one  considers  all  these  things,  —  the  climate  and  Conclusion. 
the  rainfall  of  the  United   States,  its  physical  features,  its 
fertile  soils  and  magnificent  water  powers,  its  inexhaustible 
mineral  resources,  and  the  effect  of  this  environment  on  the 


1 6  The  Land  and  its  Resources 

physical  body,  —  one  must  admit  that  the  European  race  has 
gained  by  its  transfer  from  its  ancient  home  to  the  soil  of 
the  United  States. 


SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 

§§  2,  3.  TEMPERATURE 

a.  Give  the  differences  in  temperature  between  Europe  and  North 
America,  and  their  causes. 

b.  Has  either  continent  decided  advantage  over  the  other  in  tem 
perature,  and  why? 

c.  What  places  in  the  United  States  have  the  same  annual  tempera 
ture    as   northern    Spain?   the    same  winter   temperature?   the   same 
summer  temperature? 

§  4.   RAINFALL 

a.  Show  the  connection  between  the  mode  of  sustenance  of  a  people 
and  its  civilization. 

b.  Represent   upon    an   Outline    Map  the    distribution   of  rain  in 
the  United  States,  and  state  its  results. 

c.  Economic  study :  "  Statistics  of  Irrigation  on  Pacific  Coast." 


§  5.   PHYSICAL  FORMATION 

a.  Compare  Europe  and  North  America,  as  to  ease  of  access. 

b.  Describe  the  different  natural  approaches  to  the  North  American 
continent,  and  compare  their  excellence. 

§  6.  ATLANTIC  SEABOARD 

a.  If  all  the  natural  resources  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  were  utilized, 
how  many  different  kinds  of  employments  would  be  possible  to  its 
inhabitants? 

b.  What  effect  would  free  trade  have  upon  diversity  of  occupation? 

c.  Can  you  find  an  argument  in  this  section  for  or  against  free  trade 
in  the  United  States? 

§  7.  MISSISSIPPI  BASIN 

a.  Make  a  written  comparison  of  the   Mississippi  basin  and  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.     Explain  fully  the  advantages  of  the  former. 

b.  What  are  the  distinguishing   characteristics   of  the   three   sub 
divisions  of  the  Mississippi  basin  ? 


Questions  and  Topics  I/ 

§  8.     CORDILLERAN    REGION 

a.  Give  a  general  description  of  the  Cordilleran  region. 

b.  Name  and  characterize  its  subdivisions. 


§  9.  ADAFFABILITY  OF  THE  CONTINENT 

a.   Give  the  testimony  of  statistics  as  to  the  influence  of  the  condi 
tions  of  the  American  continent  upon  European  races. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Present  the  materials  of  this  chapter  in  the  form  of  a  digest. 

b.  Assign  the  three  following  subjects  :   "  Temperature,"  "  Rainfall," 
"  Physical  Formation  of  the  United  States,"  individually  to  members 
of  the  class  for  reading  in  the    special    accounts  and  elsewhere  ;   let 
each  put  topical  analysis  of  his  results  in  the  form  of  a  report  either 
written  or  oral. 


CHAPTER  I 

DISCOVERY   AND    EXPLORATION,    1000-1600 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Higginson's  Larger  History,  27-108 ; 
Thwaites's  Colonies,  20-32,  36-42  ;  Gay's  Bryant's  Popular  History, 
I,  118-200. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Markham's  Columbus;  C.  K.  Adams's  Co 
lumbus  (M.  A.1)  ;  Winsor's  America,  I,  69-75,  JI»  I-23>  I29~I52> 
231-283,  473-498,  HI,  1-7,  IV,  5-1 1,  47-62,  105-130;  *Winsor's 
Columbus  ;  *Fiske's  Discovery  of  America  ;  Lowery's  Spanish  Settle 
ments  ;  Parkman's  Pioneers  of  France  (ed.  i887),chs.  vii-ix  ;  Froude's 
English  Seamen  ;  Bourinot's  Story  of  Canada  ;  *Corbett's  Sir  Francis 
Drake  ;  Larned's  History  for  Ready  Reference  under  America. 

Sources.  —  Higginson's  American  Explorers ;  American  History 
Leaflets;  Old  South  Leaflets ;  "Hart's  Contemporaries;  *Payne's  Eliz 
abethan  Seamen. 

Maps.  —  The  best  collection  of  facsimiles  for  the  use  of  students 
is  Ruge's  Die  Entwickelung  der  Kartographie  (published  by  Peter- 
mann,  Mitteihmgen,  erganzungsheft,  No.  106,  price  $2.00).  Other 
collections  are  Winsor's  America,  Vols.  I,  II,  HI,  and  IV  ;  Winsor's 
Columbus  and  his  Cartier. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a,  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  78,  81-90,  92-95  (Topics  and 
References). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  Irving's  Columbus  (abridged  edition)  ; 
Prescott's  Conquest  of  Mexico  and  Conquest  of Peru  ;  Lummis's  Span 
ish  Pioneers ;  Wallace's  Land  of  the  Pueblos ;  Yule's  Marco  Polo ; 
J.  I.  Lockhart's  Memoir  of  Bernal  Diaz. 

Longfellow's  Discoverer  of  the  North  Cape,  Skeleton  in  Armor 
and  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert;  Lowell's  Columbus ;  Tennyson's  Colum 
bus;  Kingsley's  Westward  Ho  !;  Cooper's  Mercedes  of  Castile  ;  Simms's 
Vasconselos.  For  other  titles  see  Guide,  §  36  a. 

1  "  Makers  of  America"  series,  and  so  throughout  these  lists  of  references. 

18 


looo]  Discovery  arid  Exploration  19 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION,  1000-1600 

10.    Voyages  of  the  Northmen.  —  It  is  reasonably  certain  The  "sagas." 
that   the  hardy  seamen  of  northern  Europe  —  the  North 
men,  as   they  are   called  —  were  on  the  coasts  of  North 
America  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.     The   evi 
dence  for  their  voyages  is  found  in  certain  old  documents 
called  "  sagas."     Some  of  them  relate  the  stories  of  kings 
and  heroes  ;  others,  as  those  which  describe  the  discovery 
of  Vinland  or  America,  represent  traditions  that  had  been 
handed  down  by  word  of  mouth  for  generations.     At  length, 
some  one  wrote  the  story  on  parchment,  and,  in  this  way, 
preserved  the  knowledge  of  these  wonderful  voyages  for  the 
use  of  students  of  later  centuries.     Of  course,  it  is  probable  Credibility  of 
that  the  writers  of  the  sagas  forgot  or  misplaced  the  exact  «  g^fg 
details  of  these  far-off  voyages.     It  is  also  unfortunate  that  Finding  of 
many  of  the  original  manuscripts  of  the  sagas  relating  to    Wineiand. 
America  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  we  know  them  only  through  copies  which  happened  to 
be  preserved  in  other  places.     The  loss  of  the  originals  is 
especially  to  be   regretted,  because  some  of  these   copies 
contain  passages  which  appear   to   have  been  inserted  by 
the  copyist.     The  most  detailed  account  of  the  voyages  to 
America  is  contained  in  a  saga,  usually  termed  the  "  Flatey 
Book,"  which   was  compiled  after  the  other  sagas  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  fourteenth  century.     In  this  document 
the  finding  of  Vinland  is  ascribed  to  a  man  named  Biarni. 
All  the  other  sagas  agree  in  the  statement  that  Leif,  the  son 
of  Eric,  discovered  Vinland  while  on  a  voyage  from  Iceland 
to   Greenland.     Moreover,  the  account  of  the  voyages  to 
Vinland  is  plainly  inserted  in  the  Flatey  Book,  as  it  has  no   Credibility  of 
reference  to  what  goes  before  or  follows  ;    nor  is  Siarni's   the  "Flatey 
discovery  even  mentioned  in  any  other  Icelandic  work  now   *R°eves's 
existing.     Students,   therefore,   are   compelled  to  discredit 
the  statements  in  the  Flatey   Book,  except  as   they  agree 
with  those  in  other  sagas.     The  slight  reliance  to  be  placed 


20 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


12 


The  voyage 
of  Leif  Eric- 
son,  A.D. 
IOOD.    *Win- 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  I,  61-69; 
Fiske's  Dis 
covery,  1 , 164 ; 
American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  3. 


The  New 
foundland 
fisheries. 


Geographi 
cal  ideas 
of  the 
ancients. 
*Winsor's 
Columbus  ; 
Markham's 
Columbus. 


on  this  manuscript  is  the  more  to  be  regretted  as  it  is  this 
saga  which  contains  the  most  detailed  accounts  of  the  voyages 
of  the  Northmen. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Leif  Ericson  was  the  first 
Northman  to  see  Vinland,  and  that  he  made  this  voyage  in 
the  year  1000,  or  just  before,  as  it  was  made  in  the  same 
summer  in  which  another  Northman  sailed  from  Norway  to 
Iceland ;  and  the  date  of  the  latter's  voyage  is  tolerably 
well  ascertained.  It  is  almost  certain  that  Vinland  was 
some  part  of  North  America ;  but  as  to  its  exact  location, 
there  is  no  definite  information. 

These  hardy  navigators  made  many  other  voyages  to  Vin 
land  ;  but  gradually  they  ceased  coming,  and  all  memory 
of  the  western  land  faded  away,  except  as  it  existed  in  old 
manuscripts  which  were  known  only  to  a  few  scholars. 

11.  English  and  French  Fishermen.  —  It  is  probable  that 
other    European    mariners    were   on    the   American   coasts 
before   1492  ;   but  of  their  voyages  there  is  not  as   much 
knowledge  as  there  is  of  the  expeditions  of  the  Northmen. 
These  later  seamen   were    English  and    French   fishermen 
who  sailed  across  the  North  Atlantic  to  fish  for  cod  off  the 
shores  of  Labrador  and   Newfoundland.     It  is  improbable 
that  these  early  voyagers  realized  that  the  lands  which  they 
visited  were  portions  of  a  new  continent ;  they  thought  that 
they  were  parts  of  European  and  Asiatic  lands,  and  Green 
land  is  so  represented  on  the  maps  of  that  period. 

12.  Early  Geographical  Ideas. — The  idea  that  the  earth 
was  spherical  in  shape,  and  not  flat,  as  had  been  taught  in 
the  Homeric  poems,  was  held  by  many  learned  men  among 
the  ancients.     For  instance,  Aristotle,  a  Greek  philosopher 
who  lived  in  the  fourth  century  before  the  birth  of  Christ, 
had  proved  to  his  own  satisfaction,  by  observations  made 
during  eclipses  and  in  other  ways,  that  the  earth  was  round. 
This  theory  had  been  held  by  men  who  lived  before  Aris 
totle  ;  but  the  idea  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  novel 
when  he  wrote.     A  most  remarkable  statement  was  made 
on  the  subject  by  another  Greek  writer,  Eratosthenes,  who 


1474]    Ideas  of  Toscanelli,  Behaim,  and  Columbus     21 


lived  in  the  third  century  before  Christ.  His  works  are 
lost,  but  according  to  Strabo,  a  Roman  geographer  (B.C. 
4O-A.D.  60),  he  wrote  :  "  If  the  extent  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
were  not  an  obstacle,  we  might  easily  pass  by  sea  from 
Iberia  to  India,  still  keeping  the  same  parallel,  the  remain 
ing  portion  of  which  occupies  more  than  a  third  of  the 
whole  circle.  But  it  is  quite  possible  that  in  the  temperate 
zone  there  may  be  two  or  even  more  habitable  earths." 

The  globular  theory  of  the  form  of  the  earth  was  preserved 
during  the  Middle  Ages  by  the  Arab  philosophers ;  it  also 
appears  from  time  to  time  in  the  writings  of  Christian 
authors.  For  instance,  Roger  Bacon,  one  of  England's 
earliest  and  one  of  her  greatest  thinkers,  refers  to  it.  It 
was  Bacon,  too,  who  first  interpreted  famous  passages  in 
Seneca,  that  it  was  only  a  short  distance  from  Spain  to  the 
Indies,  to  mean  the  distance  westward  across  the  Atlantic. 

13.  Ideas  of  Tos- 
canelli,  Behaim,  and 
Columbus.  —  Among 
other  scholars  who 
took  an  interest  in 
these  matters  was 
an  Italian,  Paolo 
Toscanelli ;  to  him 
Columbus  wrote  for 
advice  (1474).  Tos 
canelli  replied  with 
a  long  letter  illus 
trated  by  a  map. 
The  precise  date  on 
which  this  letter  Toscanelli 

reached  Columbus  and  the  impression  it  left  on  his  mind 
cannot  be  stated.  The  map  has  long  since  disappeared; 
the  representation  of  it  given  herewith  is  simply  an  attempt 
to  show  the  relation  of  Toscanelli's  ideas  to  the  actual  fact. 
There  is,  however,  a  map,  or  rather  a  globe,  which  presents 
the  ideas  of  the  period  just  preceding  the  discovery  of 


Preservation 
of  the  theory 
during  the 
Middle  Ages. 
*Winsor's 
Columbus  ; 
Markham's 
Columbus, 


22 


1474]    Ideas  of  Toscanelli,  Behaim,  and  Columbus     23 

America.     The  maker  was  Martin  Behaim,  a  German  navi-  Behaim's 

gator,  who  had  already  sailed  along  the  shores  of  eastern  globe-    ™*' 

J  sor  s  Lolum- 

Africa.     He  completed  the  globe  in  the  summer  of  1492,  bu5t  I86-i9o; 

before  he  heard  of  Columbus's  discovery.     The  portion  of  it  Winsor's 

which  relates  to  the  subject  in  hand  is  here  reproduced.  ^™rica>  H> 
Both  Behaim  and  Toscanelli  thought  that  the  earth  was  about 
three  fourths  as  large  as  it  really  is  because  they  had  no 


idea  of  the  great  masses  of  water  which  lie  between  western 
Europe  and  eastern  Asia.  One  result  of  this  error  was  to 
place  Japan  (called  Cipango  on  Behaim's  globe)  where 
Mexico  really  is.  Looking  at  the  facsimile  of  Behaim's 
globe,  it  is  easy  to  understand  what  it  was  that  Columbus 
tried  to  do  when  he  sailed  forth  on  his  great  voyage ;  it 
is  also  easy  to  understand  how  he  was  led  to  believe  that 
he  had  reached  an  outlying  Asiatic  land  when,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  he  was  off  the  coast  of  Cuba.  It  is  fortunate  that  Columbus's 

this  mistake  arose,  or  Columbus  would  not  have  set  out  on   mistaken 

theories. 

his  voyage.     Japan  is  really  about  ten  thousand  miles  west 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§14 


Clough's 
Columbus. 


of  Europe ;  Columbus  maintained  that  it  was  only  three 
thousand  miles  west  of  the  Canaries.  It  was  difficult  to  pro 
cure  men  and  vessels  for  the  shorter  voyage  ;  it  might  have 
been  impossible  to  obtain  either  the  one  or  the  other  for 
such  a  tremendous  venture  as  the  real  problem  demanded. 
As  it  was,  the  task  to  which  Columbus  set  himself  was  with 
out  precedent.  For  a  thousand  years  wise  men  had  believed 
the  earth  to  be  a  ball,  and  that  Asia  might  be  reached  by 
sailing  across  the  Sea  of  Darkness  •  until  Columbus  appeared, 
no  one  had  deliberately  set  forth  to  test  the  truth  of  the 
theory : 

What  if  wise  men,  as  far  back  as  Ptolemy, 

Judged  that  the  earth  like  an  orange  was  round, 

None  of  them  ever  said,  come  along,  follow  me, 
Sail  to  the  West  and  the  East  will  be  found. 


The  voyage. 
*Winsor's 
Columbus  ; 
living's 
Columbus 
(abridged 
ed.)f  55-"9; 
Fiske's  Dis 
covery ',  1,419; 
American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  i. 


14.  Columbus's  First  Voyage,  1492.  —  On  the  3d  of 
August,  1492,  the  little  fleet  of  three  vessels  passed  out  of 
the  roadstead  of  Palos ;  on  August  24  and  25  the  Peak 
of  Teneriffe  was  in  sight ;  and,  on  September  3,  the  Cana 
ries  were  behind  them.  Westward  they  sailed,  wafted  along 
by  light  easterly  breezes,  with  every  now  and  then  a  calm ; 
at  one  time  the  weeds  of  the  Sargasso  Sea  were  around 
them,  and  they  steered  northward  to  avoid  them,  and  then 
westward  again.  On  October  7,  after  they  had  been  out  of 
sight  of  land  for  more  than  a  month,  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon, 
the  captain  of  the  Pinta,  induced  the  admiral  to  change  the 
course  of  the  fleet  to  the  southwest.  It  was  well  that  he  did 
so.  Had  the  vessels  continued  longer  on  their  westerly 
course,  they  would  have  passed  north  of  the  Bahamas,  out 
of  sight  of  land,  have  become  involved  in  the  current  of 
the  Gulf  Stream,  and  have  reached  the  American  shores  in 
the  stormy  region  of  the  Carolina  coasts.  As  it  happened, 
however,  on  the  evening  of  October  n,  Columbus  saw  a 
light  in  the  distance,  and  at  two  o'clock  the  Pinta,  which 
was  in  advance,  made  land.  When  day  dawned,  the  land 
was  in  plain  sight ;  it  proved  to  be  an  island,  called  by  the 


1498]  Columbus 's  Later   Voyages  25 

Indians  Guanahani ;  but  which  of  the  three  thousand  islands 
and  islets  of  the  Bahama  group  this  island  was,  no  one 
knows,  nor,  in  all  probability,  ever  will  know.  Sailing 
thence,  Columbus  reached  the  northern  coast  of  Cuba, 
and,  doubling  back  on  his  course,  discovered  the  island 
of  Santo  Domingo,  or  Espafiola,  as  it  was  called  at  the 
time ;  the  Indian  name  was  Haiti.  After  many  adventures 
and  great  hardships,  Columbus  returned  to  Spain,  having 
lost  his  largest  ship  off  the  coast  of  Espafiola.  At  Barce 
lona,  he  was  received  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  with  great 
splendor.  He  had  most  wonderful  stories  to  tell,  which  lost 
nothing  in  the  telling  ;  he  also  had  many  interesting  things 
to  show  them,  —  ornaments  of  gold,  curious  woods,  and, 
above  all,  some  natives  of  the  Indian  islands  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Ocean  Sea. 

15.    Columbus's  Later  Voyages.  — A  large  expedition  was  The  second 
at  once  fitted  out,  and  Columbus  sailed  to  take  possession  voyase.  J494. 

~    ,  --111,.,  f  *Winsor's 

of  the  magic  islands ;  but  his  later  career  was  not  fortunate.    Columbus, 

There  was  little  treasure  to  be  found  in  the  lands  first  occu 
pied  by  the  Spaniards,  and  Columbus's  despotic  temper,  well 
suited  to  the  explorer,  proved  a  misfortune  to  the  founder 
of  a  colony.  Harshness  and  a  failure  to  fulfill  his  promises 
led  to  rebellion.  In  1496  he  returned  to  Spain  for  re 
inforcements.  On  this  second  voyage  he  had  explored 
the  southern  coasts  of  Cuba  and  had  discovered  the  island 
of  Jamaica. 

The  year  1498  saw  him  again  on  the  western  side  of  the  The  third 

Atlantic.     This  time   he  pursued  a   more   southerly  route,   v°yase.  J498. 

111  i  /•    r,        i  •  i    *Winsor's 

reached   the    northeastern    corner  of   South  America,  and    Columbus  ,• 

found    himself    in    the    mouth    of    a    mighty   river,  —  the  Higginson's 
Orinoco.     The   new   land  was   plainly  no    outlying   island      **  °' ers> 
of  India,  for  the  river  was  continental  in  magnitude.     For 

a  while  Columbus  was  sorely  puzzled,  but  only  for  a  time.  New  theory 

Suddenly,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  the  earth  was  not  a* to  th<: 

.  shape  of  the 

round  as  a  ball,  but  was  shaped  like  a  pear,  and  that  this  earth> 

mighty  river  flowed  down  from  the  terrestrial  paradise  which  *Winsor's 
was  situated  at  the  stem  end.     Thence  he  sailed  northward    Columbus- 


26 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§15 


to  Santo  Domingo.  In  1500  he  returned  to  Spain  under 
arrest,  to  answer  complaints  which  had  been  made  against 
him  by  the  Spanish  colonists. 

The  fourth  In  1502  he  was  once  more  in  the  West  Indies  in  search 
voyage,  1502.  of  a  waterway  to  Cathay  between  Cuba,  which  he  still  be- 
Columbus.  lieved  to  be  a  part  of  the  Asiatic  mainland,  and  the  new 


Map  made  by  La  Cosa,  1500 

continent  discovered  on  his  third  voyage.  He  coasted  the 
eastern  shores  of  Central  America  from  Honduras  to  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama ;  he  found  no  strait  leading  to  China, 
but  he  heard  vague  rumors  of  a  great  body  of  water  on  the 
other  side  of  the  land  along  which  he  sailed.  The  reports 
made  slight  impression  on  his  mind ;  for  was  not  the  Indian 
Ocean  there?  —  if  only  one  could  reach  it.  At  last  he  aban 
doned  the  attempt  to  find  the  waterway  and,  after  suffering 


1498] 


The  Cabot   Voyages 


great  hardships,  returned  once  again  to  Spain  and  there  died 
in  1506,  scarcely  noticed  by  his  contemporaries. 

16.    The  Cabot  Voyages,  1497,  1498. — Meantime,  other  First  Cabot 
explorers  had  not  been  idle.     In  1497  John  Cabot,  born  in   ^Infcr's497' 
Italy,  but  living  in  Bristol,  England,  sailed  across  the  North   America,  ill, 
Atlantic  under  a  license  from  Henry  VII,  the  first  of  the    1-7;  Fiske's 
Tudor  kings.    He  made  land  far  to  the  north  of  Columbus's 
landfall,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     Our 
knowledge  of  his  voyage  is  derived  from  the  official  docu 
ments  authorizing  the  expedition,  and  from  letters  written 


Map  made  by  Bartholomew  Columbus  before  1502 
(Note  connection  between  "  Mondo  Novo  "  and  Asia.) 


by  other  Italians,  then  in  England,  to  their  employers  or 
friends  in  Italy  :  there  is  no  statement  from  John  Cabot  him 
self  now  known  to  scholars.  From  these  accounts  it  is  pos 
sible  to  state  that  the  voyage  was  made  in  1497,  and  that 
John  Cabot,  and  not  his  son  Sebastian,  was  the  commander ; 
more  than  this  cannot  be  asserted  from  contemporary  evi 
dence,  not  even  as  to  the  precise  point  of  the  American 
shore  reached  by  the  great  navigator.  There  is  in  Paris  a 
large  engraved  map  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  made 
by  Sebastian  Cabot,  who  may  have  sailed  with  his  father 
in  1497,  or  may  have  remained  at  home  in  Bristol  with  the 
younger  brothers.  A  reduced  sketch  of  a  portion  of  this 
map  is  given  herewith.  The  map  contains  an  inscription, 


Evidence  for 
the  first  voy 
age.  Amer 
ican  History 
Leaflets, 
No.  9. 


The  "  Cabot 
map."    Win- 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  III. 


28 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§16 


attached  to  what  was  probably  intended  to  represent  Cape 
Breton  Island,  that  this  was  the  first  land  seen  — prima  tierra 
vista.  It  is  on  this  discovery  of  John  Cabot  that  the  English 
based  their  claim  to  the  right  to  colonize  North  America. 


The  Naming  of  America 


29 


17.  The  Naming  of  America.  —  Another  Italian  to  visit 
America  at  an  early  day  was  Americus  Vespucius,  whose 
name  is  spelled  in  so  many  different  ways  in  the  original 
accounts  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  recognize  the  real  Ves- 
pucius.  In  one  place  it  is  given  as  Alberic,  again  it  appears 
as  Morigo,  and  again  as  Vespucci.  It  is  certain  that  there 
was  a  man  named  Amerigo  Vespucci  or  Americus  Vespucius ; 
that  he  visited  the  northern  coast  of  South  America  at  an 
early  time;  that  he  printed  an  account  of  what  he  saw; 
and  that  he  rose  to  high  rank  in  the  Spanish  service.  It  is 
also  certain  that  America  was  named  in  his  honor ;  but  not 
much  more  is  really  known  as  to  his  connection  with  Ameri 
can  history.  Some  writers  think  that  as  early  as  1497  he 
sailed  along  the  shores  of  Florida  even  as  far  north  as 
Chesapeake  Bay;  others- believe  that  this  early  expedition 
was  to  the  northern  coast  of  South  America  ;  more  cautious 
students  decline  to  recognize  any  particular  voyage  as  having 
been  made  by  him.  It  happened,  however,  that  in  1504  he 
wrote  an  account  of  his  experiences  in  the  New  World  for 
the  perusal  of  an  Italian  friend  of  his.  This  paper  found 
its  way  to  a  little  college  which  Duke  Rene"  of  Lorraine  had 
established  at  St.  Die*  in  the  Vosges  Mountains.  There,  in 
1507,  it  was  printed  at  the  College  Press  with  an  introduc 
tory  part  entitled  Cosmographies  Introductio.  This  was 
written  by  the  teacher  of  geography  in  the  college,  a  man 
named  Martin  Waldseemiiller,  who  preferred  to  be  known 
on  the  title-page  as  Hylacomylus.  It  is  probable  that  before 
writing  this  introduction  Waldseemiiller  consulted  his  fellow- 
teachers,  among  whom  was  at  least  one  admirer  of  Ameri 
cus.  Whoever  may  have  first  suggested  it,  the  Introductio 
contains  a  proposal  that  the  new-found  world  should  be 
named  America,  in  honor  of  the  person  whom  Waldsee 
miiller  understood  had  discovered  it,  —  retaining  Columbus's 
names  for  the  islands  which  the  latter  had  brought  to  light. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Waldseemiiller  and  his 
comrades  intended  to  lessen  the  honor  due  to  Columbus. 
Probably  they  knew  nothing  of  his  voyage  to  the  Orinoco, 


Americus 
Vespucius. 
Winsor's 
America,  II, 
ch.  ii,  and 
* Columbus, 
538;  Mark- 
ham's  Colum 
bus,  344. 


His  letter  of 
1504.     Old 
South  Leaf 
lets .X.NO.S. 


Proposal  to 
name  the 
New  World 
America. 
Winsor's 
America,  II, 
146-152 ; 
Fiske's  Dis 
covery,  II, 
129-145- 


30  Discovery  and  Exploration  [§  18 

for  the  Spanish  government  was  very  secretive   as  to  the 

discoveries  made  by  its  mariners ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  to 

suppose    that  Americus  Vespucius   knew   of  their   design. 

Acceptance     The  proposed  name  found  favor  before  long  and  was  placed 

of  the  name.    on  gouth  America  on  the  maps  of  that  time.     Later,  when 

it  became  certain  that  the  American  continents  were  one 

and  were  not  connected  with  Asia,  the  name  spread  over 

the  whole  New  World. 

Nuc  j?o  &:  hf  partes  funt  latius  luftratce/&:  alia 

quartapars  per  America  Vefputiu(vt  in  fequenti 

bus  audietur  )inuenta  eft/qua  non  video  cur  quis 

iure  vetet  ab  Americo  inuentore  fagacis  ingenij  vi 

AmeriV  ro  Amerigen  quafi  Amend  terra  /  fiue  Americam 

ca          dicenda:cu  8c  Europa  &  Afia  a  mulieribus  fua  for 

tita  fintnomina.Eius  fitu  &  gentis  mores  ex  bis  bi 

nis  Americi  nauigationibus  qu«e  feqwmtliquide 

intelh'gidatun 

Facsimile  of  Passage  in  the  Cosmographiae  Mroductio 

Vasco  Nunez  18.  Discovery  of  the  Pacific,  1513.  —  The  discoverer  of 
*wBalb°a'  ^e  Pacinc  was  a  Spanish  adventurer  named  Vasco  Nunez 
America,  II,  de  Balboa,  who  is  usually  called  Balboa  by  writers  of  Eng- 
ch.  Hi;  Hsh.  He  had  come  to  the  western  world  in  search  of  easily 

acclu^red  wealth>  and  found  himself  a  bankrupt  and  a  rebel. 
A  man  of  great  energy,  he  soon  became  the  leader  of  rebels. 
One  day,  while  on  an  expedition,  an  Indian  chief,  observing 
the  greed  of  the  Spaniards  for  gold,  told  them  that  beyond 
the  mountains  which  lay  inland  was  a  great  sea,  on  which 
were  ships  like  those  of  the  Europeans,  and  he  declared  that 
the  lands  bordering  on  this  ocean  abounded  in  gold  and 
silver.  Here  was  the  opportunity  for  Vasco  Nunez  to  re 
cruit  his  fortunes  and  by  a  great  exploit  to  atone  for  his 
rebellion.  On  July  25,  1513,  he  found  himself  on  the  crest 
1513.  of  the  Cordilleras.  At  the  base  of  the  mountains  glittered 


Circumnavigating  of  the  Globe 


the  waters  of  an  unknown  sea.  -The  Isthmus  of  Panama 
extends  from  west  to  east ;  the  new  sea  was  therefore  to  the 
south  of  the  isthmus.  Accordingly,  Vasco  Nunez  called  it 
the  Mar  del  Sur,  or  South  Sea,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Mar  del  Norte,  or  North  Sea,  as  the  Spaniards  termed  the 


TROPIC  OF  CAPRICORN 


•Longitude         90 


Routes  of  the  Discoverers 

Caribbean.  For  a  long  time  the  great  ocean  was  known  to 
writers  of  English  as  the  South  Sea,  but  now  it  is  generally 
called  the  Pacific.  This  name  was  given  to  it  by  a  Por 
tuguese,  Fernando  da  Magalhaens,  whom  we  call  Magel 
lan  ;  he  was  the  first  European  to  reach  it  by  water  from 
the  Atlantic. 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§i9 


Vasco  da 
Gama  dis 
covers  a  sea 
route  to 
India,  1497. 


Cortereal  on 
the  coast  of 
Labrador, 
1500. 


Cabral  on 
the  coast  of 
Brazil,  1500. 


Magellan 
Strait,  1520. 
Winsor's 
America,  II, 
ch.  ix ; 
Lamed,  62. 


19.  Circumnavigation  of  the  Globe.  —  The  Portuguese 
were  among  the  most  daring  seamen  of  that  time.  Before 
Columbus  ventured  to  cross  the  Ocean  Sea,  some  of  them 
had  sailed  along  the  western  coast  of  Africa  to  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope;  in  1497  one  of  their  greatest  captains, 
Vasco  da  Gama,  passed  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  sailed 
through  the  Indian  Ocean,  reached  Calicut  in  India,  and 
returned  safely  home.  He  had  found  a  sea  route  to  India, 
which  Columbus  had  failed  to  do. 

In  1500  another  Portuguese  mariner,  Gaspar  de  Corte 
real,  gained  the  shores  of  Labrador,  and  discovered  the 
entrance  to  Hudson  Strait,  which  it  was  hoped  would  prove 
to  be  a  waterway  leading  to  Cipango  and  Cathay.  In  the 
same  year,  still  another  Portuguese  navigator,  Pedro  Alvarez 
Cabral,  sailed  from  Portugal  for  India  by  the  Cape  of  Good 

Hope.  Steering 
somewhat  to  the  west 
ward  of  Vasco  da 
Gama's  track,  he 
sighted  the  coast  of 
Brazil  to  the  south 
ward  of  the  point 
which  had  probably 
been  discovered  by 
Spanish  voyagers  not 
long  before. 

Nineteen  years 
later,  Magellan,  Por 
tuguese  born  and 
bred,  but  now  in  the 
service  of  Spain, 
sailed  in  search  of  a 
strait  leading  to  the 
South  Sea.  On  the 
28th  of  November, 
1520,  he  sailed  out  of  the  western  end  of  the  strait  which 
bears  his  name  and  found  himself  on  the  Pacific.  Steering 


Magellan 


1508]  Mexico  33 

boldly  across  that  great  water,  he  discovered  the  Philippine  Circumnavi- 
Islands,  where  he  was  killed  in  an  encounter  with  the  natives,  s^tjoji  of  the 
When  his  fleet  left  Spain,  it  had  numbered  five  vessels ;  of 
these  one  had  been  cast  away,  another  had  been  carried 
home  by  a  mutinous  crew,  and  two  more  were  now  aban 
doned.     In  the  remaining  vessel,  the    Victoria,  the  survi 
vors   made  their  way  back  to  Spain  around   the   Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  circumnavigating  the  world  for  the  first  time. 

20.  Florida,  1513. — The  Spaniards    had    known  of  the   Ponce  de 
mainland  of  the  United  States  at  least  since  1500,  because   Leon  dis" 
the  peculiar  features  of  the  continental  outline  are  clearly  Florida,  1513. 
shown  on  the  early  maps.     The  first  Spanish  voyager  whose  Winsor's 
name  is  associated  with  the  land  is  Ponce  de  Leon.    In  1513 

he  sailed  from  the  Bahamas  to  explore  a  northern  region 
which  was  said  to  be  rich  in  gold  and  silver,  and  to  have 
a  perfect  climate.  On  Easter  Sunday  he  anchored  in  sight 
of  the  coast  not  far  from  the  present  St.  Augustine.  He 
called  the  new  land  Florida,  from  the  Spanish  name  for 
Easter,  Pascua  Florida.  From  this  point  he  sailed  around 
the  southern  end  of  the  peninsula  of  Florida  and  traced  the 
western  coast  as  far  north  as  Tampa  Bay. 

In  1521  Ponce  de  Leon  again  sought  the  shores  of  Florida   First  attempt 
and  attempted  to  found  a  settlement  on  that  coast ;  but  the 
venture  ended  in  disaster.     Sickness  among  his  men,  hostile   united 
natives,  and  a  serious  wound  drove  him  back ;  he  reached  Cuba   States,  1521. 
only  to  die.    Thus  ended  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  attempts  to 
plant  a  colony  within  the  present  limits  of  the  United  States. 

21.  Mexico.  —  The   conquest    of  Cuba   was   undertaken   Cuba  and 
soon  after  1508.     As  the  Cuban  natives  could  not  provide   Yucatan- 
the  labor  required  by  the  Spaniards,  vessels  were  sent  off  to 

the  north  and  to  the  west  to  capture  slaves.  One  of  these 
slavers,  driven  from  its  course  by  winds  and  currents, 
reached  the  coast  of  Yucatan  (1517).  This  region  had 
already  been  examined,  but  all  remembrance  of  the  earlier 
exploration  seems  to  have  disappeared.  Mexico  was  soon 
afterward  discovered,  and  its  conquest  intrusted  to  Her- 
nando  Cortez  (1519-21).  The  story  of  this  wonderful 


34 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§24 


Conquest  of 
Mexico. 
Winsor's 
America,  II, 
ch.  vi. 


The  Atlantic 
coast.     Win 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  II,  238- 
241. 


Voyage  of 
Gomez. 
Winsor's 
America,  II, 
241. 


Verrazano's 
voyage,  1524. 
Winsor's 
America,  IV, 
5-9- 


The  map, 
Winsor's 
America,  IV, 
26.     The  let 
ter,  Higgin- 
son's  Ex 
plorers,  60- 
69;   Old 
South  Leaf 
lets,  VII,  No. 
i,  Gen.  Ser., 
No.  17. 


episode  lies  outside  the  limits  of  this  work ;  it  may  be  read 
in  the  homely  words  of  Bernal  Diaz  del  Castillo,  whose 
Historia  Verdadera,  or  True  History  of  the  Conquest,  has 
been  admirably  rendered  into  English  by  Lockhart,  or  it 
may  be  studied  in  the  more  polished  pages  of  Prescott, 
whose  work  is  largely  founded  on  the  former. 

22.  The   Atlantic    Coast.  —  In  1526    Lucas  Vasquez    de 
Ayllon  led  an  expedition   of  five  hundred  persons,  among 
them  a  few  negro  slaves,  to  Chesapeake  Bay  and  began  a 
settlement    on   or   near  the    site    of  the   later  Jamestown. 
Fever  attacked  the  colonists ;  in  a  few  months  Ayllon  and 
three  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  original  five  hundred  were 
dead.     The  survivors  abandoned  the  enterprise  and  returned 
to  Santo  Domingo. 

Meantime,  not  earlier  than  1524,  nor  later  than  1526,  Este- 
van  Gomez,  one  of  the  mutineers  who  had  deserted  Magellan 
on  the  threshold  of  his  great  discovery,  is  supposed  to  have 
sailed  along  the  eastern  coast  of  North  America  from  Labrador 
to  Carolina.  If  the  voyage  was  made,  which  is  at  best  doubt 
ful,  it  was  made  in  the  service  of  the  Spanish  government. 

23.  The   Verrazano   Voyage,  1524.  —  Giovanni   da  Ver- 
razano  was  a  native  of  Florence,  Italy.     In  1524  he  sailed 
for  the  American  coasts  under  the  direction  of  Francis  I, 
king  of  France  and  the  bitter  enemy  of  Charles  V,  emperor 
and  king  of  Spain.     Verrazano  sighted  land  somewhere  near 
Cape  Hatteras;  he  steered  southward  for  a  short  time,  then 
turned  northward  and  left  the  coast  in  the  vicinity  of  Nova 
Scotia.     On  his  way  north  he  entered  New  York  and  New 
port  harbors.     The  documents  on  which  our  knowledge  of 
this  voyage  rests  are  a  letter  which  Verrazano  on  his  return 
wrote  to  the   French  king,  and  a  map  which  his  brother 
Hieronimo  made  in  1529.     The  map  is  preserved  at  Rome. 
Some  students  have  pronounced  the  letter  to  be  a  forgery, 
and  have  argued  that  the  map  could  have  been  constructed 
from  the  accounts  of  other  explorers.     At  the  present  time, 
however,  there  is  a  disposition  to  believe  in  the  genuineness 
of  both  pieces  of  evidence. 


1527]  Coronado's  Expedition  35 

24.   Wanderings   of   Cabeza  de  Vaca,  1527-36.  —  Panfilo   Narvaez 
de    Narvaez,    an   active    Spanish    adventurer,    resolved    to   lands  on  the 
conquer  the  region  lying  to  the  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.   Florida,  1527. 
He  easily  obtained  the  necessary  permission  from  the  Span 
ish  government,  and  in  1528  led  a  large  and  finely  equipped 
expedition   to    the    southern   coast    of  the  present  United 
States.     For  years  nothing  more  was  heard  of  him  or  his 
men.     At  length  (1536)  one  of  the  officers  of  the  expedi 
tion,  Alvar  Nunez  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  appeared  at  San  Miguel,   journey  of 
a  little  Spanish  village  on  the  western  coast  of  Mexico  ;  with   Cabeza  de 

i  •  •  r  ^u  TT    u  j    Vaca-  X528- 

him  were  three  companions,  one  of  them  a  negro.     He  had   3g    win_ 

a  most  curious  and  interesting  story  to  narrate  :  for  years   sor's  Amer- 
he  and  his  companions    had  wandered   from   one   Indian   ^'II>243,; 

Hisjginson  s 

settlement  to   another,   regarded   in    one    place  as   "great  Explorers, 
medicine   men,"  in  another  as  attractive  curiosities.     He  73-96;  Old 
had  heard  rumors  of  immense   herds  of  wild   cows  —  the   &#  xi 
buffalo  or  bison  of  North  America ;  he  had  also  heard  of    No.  i. 
wonderful   cities    in    the    interior,    whose    doorways    were 
studded  with   precious  stones.     It  was  further  reported  to 
him  that  gold  and  silver  were   abundant  in  these  "  seven 
cities  of  Cibola." 

Attracted  by  these  tales  of  treasure,  Mendoza,  the  viceroy   Friar  Marcos 
of  Mexico,  determined   to   ascertain   the   truth.       He  dis- 
patched  on  this  errand  (1539)  a  certain  Friar  Marcos  de   I539. 
Nizza,  who  had  already  made  his  way  on  foot  from  Panama  sor's  Amer- 
to  Mexico.     Friar  Marcos  passed  the  desert  between  Mexico   lc^     '  475~ 
and  the  pueblo  region  and  saw  one  of  the  pueblos  or  villages 
from  a  distance ;  he  then  fled  for  his  life  and  reported  his 
doings  to  Mendoza.     On  first  reading  the   account  of  his 
journey,  one  is  tempted  to  doubt  his  truthfulness ;  a  more 
careful  perusal  will  convince   the   student  that  the  worthy 
friar  reported  what  he  saw  with  accuracy,  and  carefully  sepa 
rated  the  accounts  of  what  he  actually  saw  from  the  stories 
which  he  had  gathered  from  the  natives  along  the   route. 
His   countrymen,  however,  exercised   no   such  care ;    soon 
Mexico  resounded  with  most  marvellous  tales  of  the  size  and 
splendor  of  these  cities  in  the  interior. 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§26 


Coronado 
conquers  the 
pueblos. 
Winsor's 
America,  II, 
480-498 ; 
American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  13; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  .24. 


Disap 
pointed 
hopes. 


Coronado 
rides  north 
ward  to 
Kansas. 


25.  Coronado's  Expedition,  1540-42.  —  A  great  army  was 
fitted  out  to  conquer  this  wonderful  land  :  the  commander 
was  Francisco  Vasquez  Coronado,  who  set  forth  abundantly 
supplied  with  everything  needful  for  the  success  of  the  enter 
prise.  The  army,  with  its  baggage  train,  was  too  large  to 
move  rapidly,  and  Coronado,  clad  in  gilded  armor,  went  on 
in  advance  with  a  large  force  of  mounted  men.  He  reached 
and  conquered  pueblo  after  pueblo,  but  found  no  gold. 
These  great  Indian  villages,  which  are  so  full  of  instruction 
and  interest  for  the  modern  student,  were  equally  full  of 'dis 
appointment  for  the  Spanish  conquerors.  The  cities  of 
which  so  much  had  been  said  were  merely  Indian  pueblos 
of  sunburned  clay  ;  nor  were  they  as  large  as  had  been  re 
ported,  for  Friar  Marcos  had  been  deceived  by  the  peculiar 
effect  of  the  atmosphere  in  those  rainless  regions,  which 
makes  distant  objects  appear  far  larger  than  they  really  are. 
The  jeweled  doorways  proved  to  be  the  hatchways  leading 
from  the  flat  roofs  of  the  pueblos  into  the  rooms  beneath ; 
they  were  ornamented  with  the  rough  gem  stones  of  the 
Rockies  picked  up  in  the  neighborhood.  Gold  was  not  to 
be  found,  but  report  said  that  Indians  living  to  the  north 
ward  possessed  it.  Northward,  therefore,  went  Coronado 
and  a  portion  of  his  gallant  band  :  they  came  across  herds 
of  wild  cows  so  vast  that  they  could  not  ride  through 
them ;  they  also  crossed  immense  treeless  plains  devoid  of 
all  landmarks  to  guide  the  traveler.  The  best-mounted 
men,  who  pushed  on  ahead  c-f  the  others,  probably 
reached  the  central  part  of  the  present  state  of  Kansas. 
Everywhere  the  same  hopeless  tale,  —  there  was  no  gold. 
The  great  expedition  returned  to  Mexico,  to  the  disap 
pointment  and  dismay  of  every  one,  and  Coronado,  broken 
hearted,  disappears  from  history.  While  on  the  return 
journey  to  Mexico,  an  Indian  woman  ran  away  from  Coro 
nado's  expedition ;  nine  days  later  she  fell  into  the  hands 
of  another  band  of  Spaniards,  —  men  belonging  to  De 
Soto's  army,  which  had  marched  overland  from  the  Atlantic 
slope. 


1540] 


TJie  French  in  tJie  St.  Lawrence 


37 


26.  De  Soto's  Expedition,  1539-43.  —  Hernando  de  Soto 
had  borne  a  part  .in  the  cruel  conquest  of  Peru,  which  has 
forever  blackened  the  memories  of  the  Pizarro  brothers.    In 
1539  he  landed  on  the  western  coast  of  Florida.     He  had 
with    him    five    hundred    and    seventy    men,    magnificently 
equipped  for  the  conquest  of  another  Peru  or  another  Mex 
ico.     In  the  course  of  the  next  three  years  he  and  his  fol 
lowers  wandered  along  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Alleghanies 
as  far  north  as  the  Savannah  River ;  thence  southward  and 
westward  nearly  to  Mobile  Bay  ;  from  that  point,  proceeding 
northward,  they  reached  the  Mississippi  near  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Memphis.    There  they  crossed  the  great  river, 
and  some  of  them  penetrated  westward  nearly  as  far  as  the  line 
of  Coronado's  return  journey.     De  Soto  died,  and  the  sur 
vivors  of  his  expedition  built  boats  on  the  banks  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  voyaged  down  that  stream,  coasted  the  shores  of 
Texas,  and  reached  the  Spanish  settlements  in  Mexico.    Like 
Coronado's  men,  they,  too,  had  found  no  treasure.     Nothing 
but  disappointment  attended  these  early  Spanish  explorations 
of  the  southern  portion  of  the  present  United  States. 

27.  The  French  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  1534-1541. — The 
Spaniards  confined  their  early  efforts  mainly  to  the  country 
south  of  Delaware  Bay  ;  the  French,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
more  active  in  the  northern  regions.     French  fishermen  had 
frequented  the  seas  off  Newfoundland,  but  the  first  voy 
age  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  of  which  we  have  trust 
worthy  information  was  made  by  Jacques  Cartier  in  1534. 
Sailing  through  the  Straits  of  Belle-Isle,  between  Newfound 
land  and  Labrador,  he  first  explored  the  southern  coast  of 
that  desolate  land ;  he  then  steered  southward  and  discov 
ered  Prince  Edward  Island,  which  he  named  Isle  St.  Jean ; 
thence  westward  and  northward  to  a  harbor  where  the  heat 
of  the  Canadian  summer  was  so  great  that  he  named  it  Baie 
des  Chaleurs.     Passing  on,  he  found  the  island  of  Anticosti, 
standing  in  the  midst  of  a  waterway  which  he  hoped  would 
prove  to   be   the  long-sought-for   northwestern   passage   to 
India  and  Cathay.     He  then  returned  to  France. 


De  Soto 
lands  on  the 
coast  of 
Florida, 
1539.      Win- 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  II,  244- 
254;  Higgin- 
son's  Ex 
plorers,  121- 
140. 


He  reaches 
the  Missis 
sippi,  1540. 


Cartier's  first 
voyage,  1534. 
Winsor's 
America,  IV, 

47-50 ; 

*Bourinot's 
Story  of  Can 
ada,  ch.  iii ; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  35; 
Higginson's 
Explorers, 
99-104. 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§28 


Carrier's 
second  voy 
age,  1535  I 
Winsor's 
America,  IV, 
50-55;   Hig- 
ginson's  Ex 
plorers,  104- 
117. 


Ribauit's 
colony  on 
Port  Royal 
Sound,  1562. 
Parkman's 
Pioneers,  33- 
47;  Higgin- 
son's  Ex 
plorers,  143- 
159. 


The  next  year  (1535)  Cartier  was  again  in  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence.  This  time  he  sailed  boldly  between  Anticosti 
and  Labrador,  passed  the  heights  on  which  Quebec  now 
stands,  and  proceeded  westward  and  southward  until  his 
further  progress  toward  China  was  barred  by  a  rocky  barrier, 
which  was  later  called  the  Lachine  Rapids.  On  the  northern 

bank  was  a  high  steep 
hill  which  Cartier 
named  Mount  Royal. 
Around  its  base,  the 
head  of  navigation 
from  the  sea,  there 
has  grown  up  the  city 
of  Montreal.  Cartier 
wintered  on  ship 
board  in  the  St.  Law 
rence,  which  he  now 
knew  to  be  a  river ; 
in  the  following 
spring  he  returned  to 
France.  After  an  un 
successful  attempt  to 
plant  a  colony  in  this 
region,  the  French 
sought  the  warmer  re 
gions  of  the  southeastern  portion  of  the  present  United  States. 
28.  The  Huguenot  Colonies,  1555-65. — Gaspard  de 
Coligny,  the  leader  of  the  French  Protestants  or  Huguenots, 
determined  to  found  a  colony  in  the  New  World.  In  1562 
he  sent  Jean  Ribault,  a  gallant  Huguenot  seaman,  to  explore 
the  shores  of  what  are  now  the  states  of  Florida  and  South 
Carolina.  On  May  Day  of  that  year  he  entered  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  John's  River  in  Florida,  naming  it  the  River  of 
May.  Thence  he  sailed  northward  along  the  shore,  finding 
the  natives  everywhere  friendly,  the  land  and  the  climate  all 
that  could  be  desired,  and  he  and  his  comrades  persuaded 
themselves  that  all  the  signs  pointed  to  an  abundant  supply 


Cartier 


J555] 


Destruction  of  the  French  Colony 


39 


of  treasure.  Some  of  his  men  volunteered  to  remain  on  the 
shores  of  Port  Royal  Sound,  where  they  then  were,  to  hold 
the  country  for  the  king  of  France  until  Ribault  should 
return  with  recruits  and  supplies.  They  soon  tired  of  the 
hardships  of  their  life  in  the  New  World.  Embarking  on  a 
crazy,  half-made  boat  they  drifted  slowly  across  the  Atlantic, 
only  to  be  captured  by  an  English  ship  when  within  sight  of 
the  coast  of  France. 

Two  years  passed  away,  and  again  a  French  fleet  ap- 
preached  the  Carolina  coasts  (1^64).  This  expedition, 

, 

which  was  designed  to  occupy  the  country,  was  commanded 
by  Rene"  de  Laudonniere.  Pending  Ribault's  colonists  gone, 
he  steered  southward  from  Port  Royal  Sound  and  founded 
his  settlement  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  River  of  May 
(the  St.  John's  River).  The  colonists  built  a  fort,  which 
they  named  Fort  Caroline  in  honor  of  the  young  king, 
Charles  IX.  Their  further  history  was  one  series  of  mis- 
fortunes  :  starvation,  unfortunate  conflicts  with  the  natives, 
and  mutiny  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession.  Some 
of  the  mutineers  sailed  away  to  plunder  the  Spanish  towns 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  they  gave  the  Spaniards  the  first 
information  of  the  existence  of  the  French  settlement  in 
Florida. 

29.  Destruction  of  the  French  Colony,  1565.  —  The  Span- 
iards  were  greatly  alarmed  when  they  learned  of  this  French 
settlement  on  the  St.  John's  River.  The  Florida  peninsula 
formed  one  side  of  the  channel  through  which  the  Spanish 
fleets  frequently  passed  on  their  way  to  Spain,  laden  with 
the  gold  and  silver  of  Mexico.  Several  vessels  had  been 
lost  on  the  coast  of  Florida  or  on  the  islands  which  fringe  its 
shores  ;  but  all  attempts  to  occupy  this  region  had  hitherto 
been  unsuccessful.  Pedro  Menendez  de  Aviles,  a  Spaniard, 
had  already  begun  to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  search  for  his 
son,  whose  ship  had  been  lost  in  the  vicinity  of  Florida, 
when  news  of  the  French  colony  reached  Spain.  He  was 
now  strongly  reinforced  and  directed  to  destroy  the  French 
settlements. 


The  colony 
on  the  Rlver 

of  May,  i  =564. 

parkman's 
Pioneers,  48- 
?5  ;  Hart>s 

Lontemporci- 

ries>  i,  NO. 


166. 


The 
sPaniards 

struction  of 
the  colony. 


96-130. 


4o 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§30 


Hawkins  and 
the  French 
colonists. 


Founding  of 
St.  Augus 
tine,  and  de 
struction  of 
the  French 
fleet  and 
colony,  1565. 
Winsor's 
America,  II, 
260-278 ; 
Parkman's 
Pioneers, 
131-15°- 


The  English 
seamen. 


August,  1565,  saw  the  gallant  English  seaman,  Sir  John 
Hawkins,  voyaging  homeward  from  the  West  Indies  (p.  41). 
He,  too,  had  heard  of  the  coming  of  the  Frenchmen, 
and  entered  the  St.  John's  River  to  see  how  his  fellow- 
Protestants  were  getting  on.  Pitying  their  misfortunes,  he 
sold  them  one  of  his  four  vessels  at  their  own  valuation,  and 
took  in  payment  their  heavy  guns,  no  longer  of  use  to  them, 
as  they  were  determined  to  abandon  the  fort.  Hawkins 
then  sailed  away,  and  the  colonists  were  to  follow  in  a  short 
time.  Before  the  day  of  their  departure  arrived,  however, 
Ribault  entered  the  river's  mouth  with  reinforcements  and 
supplies.  This  was  on  the  28th  or  2Qth  of  August.  For  a 
moment  all  seemed  bright  at  Fort  Caroline ;  "  but,  how 
oftentimes,"  wrote  Laudonniere,  "  misfortune  doth  search 
and  pursue  us,  even  when  we  think  to  be  at  rest."  On  the 
4th  of  September,  Menendez,  with  the  leading  portion  of 
his  fleet,  sailed  into  the  anchorage  of  Ribault's  vessels  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  Uncertain  as  to  the  strength  of 
the  French,  he  passed  out  to  sea  again ;  soon  Ribault  fol 
lowed  him  with  nearly  all  the  vessels  and  found  the  Spaniard 
landing  his  colonists  and  stores  at  St.  Augustine  on  a  lagoon 
not  far  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's.  Ribault  failed 
to  seize  this  opportunity  to  attack  him  and  sailed  away  to 
await  a  more  favorable  occasion.  A  hurricane  drove  his 
fleet  to  the  southward  and  cast  his  vessels  on  the  sandy 
shores  of  Florida.  Menendez,  on  his  part,  used  his  advan 
tages  to  the  utmost.  Marching  overland,  he  surprised  and 
captured  Fort  Caroline  with  most  of  its  inmates,  and  return 
ing  to  St.  Augustine  intercepted  the  bands  of  shipwrecked 
and  starving  French  seamen  as  they  were  proceeding  along 
the  shore  to  their  countrymen.  In  a  short  time  nearly  all 
the  Frenchmen  were  dead  or  on  their  way  to  Spanish 
prisons. 

30.  The  Elizabethan  Seamen. — The  discoveries  of  the 
Cabots  appear  to  have  aroused  little  interest  in  England 
at  the  time.  English  fishermen  still  frequented  the  fishing 
stations  off  Newfoundland;  and  in  the  years  1530-40 


1578] 


Drake  s    Voyages 


William  Hawkins  and  other  English  mariners  made  several 
slave-trading  voyages  to  the  western  world ;  but  it  is  with 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  that  modern  English  mari 
time  enterprise  really  begins. 

The  earliest  of  this  new  race  of  English  seamen  was  John 
Hawkins  of  Devonshire,  one  of  the  extreme  western  coun 
ties  of  England,  and  noted  for  the  hardihood  and  good 
fortune  of  its  mariners.  In  1562  he  sailed  with  three  .ves 
sels  for  the  Guinea  coast  of  Africa.  There  he  procured 
three  hundred  negroes,  most  of  whom  he  carried  safely  to 
Santo  Domingo ;  the  Spaniards  were  glad  to  secure  slaves 
at  reasonable  rates,  and  Hawkins  returned  to  England  with 
valuable  cargoes.  The  venture  was  so  profitable  that  in 
1564  he  again  set  forth.  On  this  second  voyage  he  had 
f9ur  vessels  :  the  Jesus,  Solomon,  Tiger,  and  Swallow.  The 
first  of  these  names  seems  to  be  a  curious  one  for  a  slaver ; 
but  in  those  days  men  saw  no  evil  in  the  slave  traffic. 
Hawkins  was  a  man  of  religious  instincts,  he  directed  his 
men  "  to  serve  God  daily,"  and  had  religious  services  twice 
each  day  on  his  own  ship.  This  second  voyage  also 
proved  very  profitable,  and  it  was  on  his  homeward  way 
that  he  called  at  Fort  Caroline  and  succored  the  French 
colonists.  His  third  voyage 
(1567)  was  not  so  fortunate: 
the  Spaniards  attacked  his 
fleet,  —  treacherously,  as  he 
maintained,  —  and  he  escaped 
with  only  two  of  his  five  ves 
sels.  Among  his  commanders 
was  Francis  Drake,  also  a 
mariner  of  Devonshire.  The  \  * 
events  of  that  unhappy  day  \m 
were  always  present  to  Drake  |j^ 
and  drove  him  on  to  take 
such  vengeance  as  few  men 
have  ever  had  on  their  enemies ;  for  a  hundred  years  he 
was  known  to  Spanish  writers  as  "The  Dragon." 


\ 


John  Hawkins 


John 

Hawkins's 
voyages, 
1562-67. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 
60-64; 
*Hart's  Con 
temporaries  , 
I,  No.  29; 
Higginson's 
Explorers. 


42 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§32 


Drake  in  the 
Pacific,  1578. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 

65-73 ; 

Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  30. 


31.  Drake's  Voyage  around  the  World.  —  Drake    made 
three  plundering  voyages  to  the  West  Indies  in  the  years 
1570-73.     In  1577  he  sailed  from  Plymouth  with  four  ves 
sels  on  a  more  adventurous  cruise  than  any  Englishman  had 
hitherto  undertaken.    His  destination  was  apparently  Egypt ; 
in  reality  he   had   conceived  the  daring  project  of  sailing 
through  the  Strait  of  Magellan  to  attack  the  unprotected 
Spanish  settlements  on  the  western  shores  of  America,  and 
perhaps  to  capture  a  treasure  ship  on  its  way  from  Peru  to 
Panama.     Three  of  his  vessels  were  either  wrecked  before 
he  reached  the  Pacific  or  were  carried  home  to  England  by 
their  faint-hearted  crews.     In  the  fourth  vessel,  the  Pelican, 
he  entered  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  October,   1578.     Sailing 
into  the  harbors  of  Chile  and  Peru,  he  gathered  an  immense 
booty  from  the  vessels  at  anchor  in  the  several  harbors,  and 
from  the  terrified  people  on  shore ;  from  one  vessel  he  took 
fifteen  hundred  bars  of  silver.     He  then  sailed  in  pursuit 
of  a  treasure  ship,  the  galleon   Cacafuego,  of  whose  recent 
departure  some  unwitting  Spaniard  had  told  him.     He  came 
up  with  her  before   long  and  secured  twenty-six  tons  of 
silver  and  eighty  pounds  of  gold,  besides  coined  money  and 
plate ;   he  returned   the  captain  of  the   galleon    "  a  little 
linen  "  and  a  few  necessaries  and  let  him  go.     It  was  out 
of  the  question  to  return  home  by  the  route  by  which  he 
had  come ;  the  Spaniards  would  carefully  guard  the  Strait 
of  Magellan.     Drake  therefore  sailed  northward  along  the 
western  shores  of  North  America,   until  the   ropes  of  his 
vessel's  rigging  became  stiff  with  ice  in  the  month  of  June. 
From  this  high  northerly  latitude  he  turned  back  and  cleaned 
and  repaired  his  vessel  at  some  port  of  California  not  far 
from  the  Golden  Gate,  which  forms  the  entrance  to  the  Bay 
of  San  Francisco.     He  then  sailed  for  England  by  the  way  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.     The  Pelican  was  the  first  English 
vessel  to  enter  the   Pacific,  and  Drake  was  the  first  com 
mander  to  carry  his  ship  around  the  world. 

32.  Sir   Humphrey   Gilbert.  —  Drake's    voyage   was    the 
most  daring  adventure  of  the  time ;  but  there  were  many 


1584]  The  Ralegh  Colonists  43 

other  fearless  English  mariners.     Among  other  adventurous   Sir 
spirits  were  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  and  his  kinsman,  Walter   HumPhrey 
Ralegh.       Gilbert    sailed    three    times   for  America,  but  ill 


fortune  attended    him.     On    his    third   voyage   (1583),  he   Explorers, 
landed  on  the  shore  of  Newfoundland,  but  his  attempt  to    l69~I74- 
reach    the    mainland   was    disastrous  ;    and    on    his  return 
home  the  vessel  in  which  .he  embarked   went  to  the  bot 
tom  with  all  on  board.     Our  poet  Longfellow  has  immortal 
ized  this  incident : 

He  sat  upon  the  deck : 

The  Book  was  in  his  hand. 
"Fear  not,"  he  cried,  "Heaven  is  as  near 

By  water  as  by  land." 

33.   The   Ralegh   Colonists,  1584-90.  —  Gilbert's   patent  Sir  Walter 
was  transferred  to  his  half-brother,  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  now   Ralegh  and 
high  in  Queen  Elizabeth's    favor.      Ralegh   himself  never   winsor's 
visited  the  shores  of  the  United  States,  but  these  expedi-   America,iH, 
tions  are  rightly  associated  with  his  name,  as  he  planned   ch' 1V' 
them  and  furnished  a  large  part  of  the  funds  to  fit  them 
out.     The   first   expedition   (1584)    was   designed    for   ex-   Amadas  and 
ploration  with  a  view  to  ascertaining  the  suitability  of  the   Barl°we, 
American  lands  for  settlement  by  Europeans.     The  leaders   Cart's  Con- 
were  Philip  Amadas  and  Arthur  Barlowe,  who  explored  the   temporaries, 
sounds  of  North  Carolina,  where  the  Indians  cordially  wel 
comed   them.      They   speedily   returned    to    England    and 
reported  the  new  land  to  be  "the  most  plentiful,  sweet,    177-189- 
fruitful,  and  wholesome  of  all  the  world."     The  natives  they 
described  as  "  void  of  all  guile  and  treason,  and  such  as  live 
after   the  manner   of  the    Golden    Age."     This  wonderful 
region  was  named  Virginia,  and  Ralegh  was  knighted  for 
his  trouble  and  expense. 

In  1585  Ralegh  fitted  out  seven  ships  under  the   com-   The  colony 
mand  of  Sir  Richard  Grenville,  who  fought  the  gallant  fight   ™gder  Lane- 
in  the  Revenge  "  of  the  one  and  the  fifty-three,"  splendidly 
turned  into  verse  by  Lord  Tennyson  from  Ralegh's  graphic 
description.    He  landed  Ralph  Lane  and  one  hundred  com- 


44  Discovery  and  Exploration  [§  34 

panions  on  Roanoke  Island  and   then  sailed  for  England. 
The  explorers  soon  aroused  the  anger  of  the  natives,  who 
Drake  sue-      refused  longer  to  supply  them  with  food.     Starvation  stared 
cors  the  them  in  the  face,  when  Sir  Francis  Drake,  voyaging  home 

ward  from  one  of  his  later  expeditions  to  the  West  Indies, 
visited  the  settlement  and  carried  them  home  with  him  ; 
this  was  in  the  summer  of  1586.  Not  many  weeks  after 
wards,  Grenville  again  reached  Virginia  with  recruits  and 
supplies.  He  found  Roanoke  Island  abandoned  and  re 
turned  to  England,  leaving  fifteen  men,  with  two  years' 
provisions,  to  hold  the  post  for  England's  queen. 

"The  Lost  Ralegh's  means  were  insufficient  for  these  continual  de- 
Colony,"  mands  ;  he  summoned  to  his  aid  a  body  of  merchants  and 
Amer-  men  °f  influence,  some  of  whom  belonged  to  the  later  Vir- 


ica,  III,  113-  ginia  Company.  They  fitted  out  a  large  expedition  to  make 
Il6,;  Higgm-  a  settlement  on  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  as  Roanoke 
plorers,  189-  Island  seemed  to  be  an  undesirable  spot  (1587).  Disaster 
200.  attended  the  colonists  from  the  moment  they  reached  Amer 

ica.  For  some  unexplained  reason  they  were  landed  on 
Roanoke  Island  instead  of  on  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay, 
and  John  White,  the  governor  of  the  colony,  returned  to 
England  in  the  vessel  which  had  brought  him  over.  The 
need  must  have  been  urgent,  since  White  left  in  Virginia 
his  daughter  and  his  little  granddaughter,  Virginia  Dare,  the 
first  child  born  of  English  parents  in  America.  He  again 
reached  Roanoke  Island  in  1590  and  found  scarcely  a 
sign  of  the  colonists,  —  only  the  abandoned  houses  and 
a  word  cut  in  the  bark  of  a  tree.  They  were  never  seen 
again,  and  all  attempts  to  account  for  their  disappearance 
have  been  unsuccessful. 

Cause  of  the  34.  The  Spanish  Armada,  1588.  —  The  Spanish  govern- 
contest  with  ment  jja(j  gOQCj  reason  to  be  anxious.  For  years  the  mari- 
Spam. 

ners  of  England  had  attacked  her  colonies  at  a  time  when 

the  two  countries  were  at  peace.  Spain's  existence  as  a 
sea  power  depended  in  great  measure  on  the  supply  of 
treasure  which  she  received  from  the  mines  of  Peru  and 
Mexico  ;  English  seamen  were  yearly  becoming  more  and 


1588]  The  Spanish  Armada  45 

more  active  in  America,  and  in  Europe  they  were  constantly 
threatening  her  communications  between  the  Spanish  penin 
sula  and  her  armies  fighting  with  her  rebellious  subjects  in 
the  Netherlands.  Many  of  the  disputes  between  the  two 
nations  grew  out  of  their  religious  differences,  and  the  reli 
gious  quarrel  greatly  embittered  their  contests,  even  when 
it  did  not  cause  them.  Philip  II  determined  to  send  a 
great  fleet  —  the  Spanish  Armada  —  against  England  ;  it 
was  to  convoy  a  body  of  veteran  soldiers  under  the  Prince 
of  Parma  from  the  Netherlands,  and  these,  with  the  soldiers 
brought  in  the  ships  from  Spain,  were  expected  to  be  suffi 
cient  to  conquer  England.  The  fate  of  the  Spanish  mon 
archy  on  the  one  side,  and  of  English  freedom  on  the  other, 
hung  in  the  balance.  In  the  presence  of  such  mighty  issues, 
the  few  English  colonists  in  Virginia  could  receive  scant 
attention,  —  every  man  and  every  ship  were  required  for  the 
defense  of  the  English  nation  and  institutions. 

The  Spanish  Armada  should  have  left  port  in  1587,  but   Coming  of 
Drake    dashed   into  the  harbors  of  Spain  and  burned  the   the  Armada, 
storeships,    without    which     the    Armada    could    not    sail : 
"  Singeing  the  king  of  Spain's  beard,"  he  jocosely  called  it. 
At  length,  in  1588,  the  "Invincible  Armada"  appeared  off  Destruction 
the  coast  of  England.     The  Spanish  vessels  were  somewhat   of  the 
larger   than  the  English  ships,  but  not  so  much  larger  as   IS88>    QM 
was    formerly  supposed  to  have  been  the  case  ;    the  most   South  ^a/ 
important  difference  in  the    vessels  themselves  was  in  the   *£•  ^T) 
much  greater  manageableness  of  the  English  ships,  —  they 
were  shorter  and  less  incumbered  above  water.     Moreover, 
the   English   vessels  were  much  the  heavier  armed.     The 
greatest  difference,  however,  was  in  the  crews  of  the  two 
fleets  :  the  Spanish  vessels  were  manned  chiefly  by  soldiers, 
and  their  officers,  with  few  exceptions,  had  had  little  service 
at  sea;    the  English  ships,  on  the  contrary,  were  manned 
largely  by  volunteers  from  the  seafaring  people  of  the  coast 
towns ;    they  were  led  by  men  who  had  been  fighting  and 
beating  Spaniards  for  the  last  twenty  years.     The  world  has 
never  seen  better  sea  fighters    than  Hawkins  and  Drake, 


46 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


[§34 


Establish 
ment  of 
England's 
sea  power. 
Importance 
of  this  in 
American 
history. 


Frobisher  and  Grenville.  Not  only  were  the  heavier  guns 
of  the  English  better  handled  than  were  the  lighter  guns  of 
the  Spaniards  ;  the  superior  speed  of  the  English  vessels 
gave  their  commanders  the  power  to  take  such  distances  as 
suited  their  own  armament.  The  very  winds  blew  in  Eng 
land's  favor,  and  storms  continued  the  work  of  destruction 
so  hardily  begun  by  Drake  and  his  "  Men  of  Devon." 
Some  of  the  Spanish  vessels  which  escaped  the  English  guns 
were  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  where  their  crews 
fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Irishmen.  Of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  Spanish  ships  which  entered  the  English  Channel, 
only  fifty-four  returned  to  Spain.  The  sea  power  of  Eng 
land  was  established,  and  Englishmen  might  found  colonies 
in  the  unoccupied  parts  of  America  in  comparative  security. 
The  breaking  of  Spain's  naval  power  is,  therefore,  an  inci 
dent  of  the  first  importance  in  the  history  of  the  English 
colonies.  The  period  of  discovery  and  exploration  closes 
with  this  great  achievement,  and  the  period  of  English  and 
French  colonization  begins. 


SUGGESTIVE   QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 
§  10.  THE  NORTHMEN 

a.  Discuss  the  credibility  of  the  sagas. 

b.  Compare  the  voyages  of  the  Northmen  with  the  early  explorations 
of  the  Phoenicians. 

§§  12,  14.   EARLY  GEOGRAPHICAL  IDEAS 

a.  What  proofs  that  the  earth  was  round  were  discovered  by  the 
ancients  ? 

b.  What   further   facts   can    you    ascertain    about    Toscanelli   and 
Behaim? 

§§  13,  14.  COLUMBUS 

a.  In  what  did  Columbus's  greatness  consist  ? 

b.  Represent  upon  an  Outline  Map  the  tracks  of  Columbus's  ships 
and  the  lands  which  he  visited,  putting  dates  upon  each. 

§  1 6.  THE  CABOT  VOYAGES 

a.   What  event  opened  the  way  for  England's  colonial  empire,  and 
what  events  rendered  its  firm  foundation  possible? 


Questions  and  Topics  47 

b.  Does  the  text  of  this  history  confirm  or  disprove  the  proposition : 
"  History  is  a  collection  of  problems,  not  a  statement  of  facts  "  ?  Prove 
by  quotations. 

§  17.   THE  NAMING  OF  AMERICA 

a.  Is  the  name  of  a  continent  a  matter  of  real  importance?     Give 
your  reasons. 

b.  Represent  in  colors  upon  an  Outline  Map  the  tracks  of  all  Italian 
seamen  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  and  the  lands  they  discovered,  put 
ting  upon  every  track  and  every  region  the  name  and  date. 

§§  1 8,  19.  CIRCUMNAVIGATION  OF  THE  GLOBE 

a.  When  did  the  Pacific  Ocean  first  become  important  in  the  com 
merce  of  the  world?     Why? 

b.  What  long  voyages  preceded  the  circumnavigation  of  the  globe? 
What  discovery  was  made  by  each  voyager? 

c.  Represent  in  colors  all  these  voyages  upon  an  Outline  Map  with 
names  and  dates. 

d.  Explain  fully  (by  recitation)  the  map  that  you  have  made. 

§§  20,  21.   FLORIDA  AND  MEXICO 

a.  Keep  in  note-book  a  list  of  the  different  possessors  of  Florida  from 
1513  to  present  time,  giving  to  each  date  and  manner  of  acquisition. 

b.  What  is  meant  by  "  strategic  importance  "  ?     Has  the  peninsula 
of  Florida  strategic  importance? 

§§  22,  23.  THE  ATLANTIC  COAST 

a.  What  effect  did  Verrazano's  voyage  have  on  the  Spanish  claim 
to  Atlantic  coast  regions? 

b.  By  whom,  and  when,  were  about  the  same  things  done,  and  with 
what  results? 

§§  24-26.  THE  SOUTHWEST 

a.  How  much  of  these  sections  is  a  connected  story?    Trace  it  upon 
an  Outline  Map  and  tell  it. 

b.  What  importance  had  each  event  mentioned  in  these  sections  in 
establishing  the  Spanish  claim  to  North  America? 

§§  23,  27-29.   THE  FRENCH  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

a.  What  American  possession  has  France  now? 

b.  Bring  to  class  a  brief  topical  analysis  of  French  history,  1492- 

Who  were  the  Huguenots? 

§§  1 6,  30-34.  THE  ENGLISH  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

(See  questions  on  §  16.) 
a.   Bring  to  class  a  brief  analysis  of  English  history  from  1497  to  1558. 


48  Discovery  and  Exploration 

b.  If  Magellan's  ship  circumnavigated  the  globe  in  1520,  why  is  so 
much  said  of  Drake's  voyage  around  the  world? 

c.  Has  the  story  of  the   Ralegh   colonies  any  real  importance   in 
American  history?     Give  reasons  for  your  answer. 

d.  What  issues  did  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  settle? 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

a.  Represent  in  colors  upon  three  Outline  Maps  "  Territorial  History 
of  the  Spanish,  the  French,  the  English,  in  North  America,"  coloring 
all  territory  discovered,  explored,  or  settled  by  each  nation  before  1600. 
Place  names  and  dates  in  proper  places.     Whenever,  in  the  course  of 
the  narrative,  territorial  possessions  changed  hands,  note  such  change 
on  these  maps  and  add  new  maps  as  often  as  clearness  demands. 

b.  Make  a  sketch  map  of  your  own  state,  marking  on  it  changes  in 
possession  or  settlement  as  you  come  to  them  in  your  study.     Place 
names  and  dates  in  proper  places. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS  ON  CHAPTER  AS  A  WHOLE 

rt.  The  work  of  what  men,  or  group  of  men,  mentioned  in  this  chap 
ter  has  had  largest  and  most  lasting  effect  upon  history?  Give  your 
reasons. 

b.  Select  all  disputed  points  mentioned  in  this  chapter;   in  each  case 
give  the  evidence  for  and  against,  and  draw  conclusion. 

c.  Make  digest  of  whole  chapter,  centralizing  the  topics  as  much  as 
possible  under  inclusive  heads,  and  inserting  all  dates. 

d.  In  recitation  hour  write  this  digest  rapidly. 

e.  Let  written  recitations  be  demanded  upon  any  of  the  points 
touched  in  the  Questions. 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 

The  reports  to  be  in  the  student's  own  words,  and  to  be  detailed 
accounts  written  from  the  sources.  In  these  lists  numbers  in  paren 
theses  refer  to  pages  of  this  history  containing  references  to  original 
sources. 

a.  The  voyage  of  Leif  Ericson  (20,  last  one  of  first  group). 

b.  Columbus's  first  voyage  (24,  last  one). 

c.  The  first  Cabot  voyage  (27,  last  two  groups). 

d.  The  Verrazano  voyage  (34,  §  23,  last  group). 

e.  Coronado's  explorations  (36,  first  group,  last  two). 
/   Car  tier's  first  voyage  (37,  last  two). 

g.   Amadas  and  Barlovve's  explorations  (43,  third  group). 


CHAPTER    II 

COLONIZATION,  1600-1660 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Higginson's  Larger  History,  140-168,  192- 
202;  Thwaites's  Colonies,  35,  45-77,  81-87,  113-164,  196-202,  207- 
210,  246-252;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era,  30-50,  62-72,  82-148,  177-190; 
Fiske's  Civil  Government,  140-151;  Lodge's  English  Colonies,  passim. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Gay's  Bryant's  Popular  History;  Winsor's 
America  ;  Dexter's  Story  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  *Arber's  Story  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers;  Fiske's  Beginnings  of  New  England;  *  Palfrey's  New  Eng 
land;  Greene's  Short  History  of  Rhode  Island ;  Roberts's  New  York 
(A.  C.1);  Browne's  Maryland  (A.  C.) ;  Cooke's  Virginia  (A.  C.); 
*Campbell's  Virginia  ;  Larned's  History  for  Ready  Reference,  under 
names  of  states.  On  conditions  in  England  :  Gardiner's  Students'  His 
tory  ;  Higginson  and  Channing,  English  History  for  Americans.  See 
also  *Freeman's  English  People  in  its  Three  Homes;  *Borgeaud's 
Rise  of  Modern  Democracy;  *Bryce's  American  Commonwealth 
(abridged  edition).  On  French  colonization:  Parkman's  Pioneers 
(Ed.  1887)  and  La  Salle ;  Bourinot's  Story  of  Canada. 

Sources.  —  * Records  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  ;  *Winthrop's 
New  England ;  Bradford's  Plymouth  Plantation ;  *Hening's  Statutes 
of  Virginia ;  * Archives  of  Maryland ;  American  History  Leaflets.; 
Old  South  Leaflets;  Higginson's  American  Explorers;  Stedman  and 
Hutchinson's  Library  of  American  Literature ;  *Hart's  Contempo 
raries,  I. 

Maps.  —  MacCoun's  Historical  Geography  ;  Winsor's  America,  and 
Mississippi  Basin. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a,  56  b  (General  Readings);  §§  96-102,  104-128  (Topics  and 
References);  §  23  (State  and  Local  Histories);  §  29  (Colonial 
Records). 

1  "  American  Commonwealths  "  series,  and  so  throughout  these  lists  of 
references. 

49 


Colonization 


[§35 


Illustrative  Material.  —  Mrs.  Austin's  Standish  of  Standish  and 
other  stories;  Hawthorne's  Grandfather's  Chair ;  Mrs.  Child's  Hobo- 
mok ;  Mrs.  Cheney's  Peep  at  the  Pilgrims;  Motley's  Merry  Mount; 
M.  E.  Wilkins's  Adventures  of  Ann ;  Dix's  Soldier  Rigdale ;  Long 
fellow's  Allies  Standish ;  Whittier's  Cassandra  Southwick  and  other 
poems;  Bynner's  Penelope's  Suitors;  Drake's  New  England  Legends  ; 
*  Lowell's  Among  My  Books  ("  New  England  Two  Centuries  Ago  ")  ; 
Irving's  Knickerbocker  History ;  Paulding's  Dutchman's  Fireside  and 
other  stories;  Stedman's  Peter  Stuyvesan?  s  New  Year's  Call;  Ken 
nedy's  Rob  of  the  Bowl ;  Cooke's  Stories  of  the  Old  Dominion  ;  Eggles- 
ton's  Pocahontas  and  Powhatan  ;  Caruthers's  Cavaliers  of  Virginia. 


Grant  to  De 
Monts,  1603. 
American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  16. 


The  French 
in  Acadia. 
Parkman's 
Pioneers, 


Champlain's 

explorations, 

1604-14. 

Parkman's 

Pioneers, 

245 ;  *Win- 

sor's  Cartier; 

Higginson's 

Explorerst 

269-278. 


COLONIZATION,  1600-1660 

35.  The  French  in  Acadia  and  Canada.  —  The  French  were 
the  first  to  take  advantage  of  the  growing  weakness  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy,  for  Ralegh  was  no  longer  in  a  position  to 
carry  out  his  far-reaching  plans.  The  sudden  activity  of 
France,  however,  was  more  especially  due  to  the  desire  of 
her  great  ruler,  Henry  IV,  to  establish  a  French  colonial 
empire.  In  1603  he  granted  a  commission  to  Sieur  de 
Monts,  appointing  him  Lieutenant  General  of  Acadia,  with 
authority  to  colonize  lands  "  extending  from  the  fortieth  to 
the  forty-sixth  degree,"  or  from  Philadelphia  to  Halifax. 
In  1604  De  Monts  led  a  band  of  colonists  to  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  and  settled  on  an  island  in  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix 
River.  The  site  was  not  a  good  one,  and  the  colony  was 
moved  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  bay. 

A  remarkable  figure  among  these  colonists  was  Champlain, 
a  great  explorer,  a  good  draughtsman,  a  graceful  writer,  and 
an  excellent  observer.  Instead  of  remaining  quietly  on  the 
shores  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  he  voyaged  along  the  coast  as 
far  west  and  south  as  Plymouth  harbor ;  he  called  it  Port 
St.  Louis,  and  made  a  map  of  it  which  is  of  value  at  the 
present  time.  A  few  years  later,  he  founded  the  town  of 
Quebec  (1608),  and  discovered  Lake  Champlain  (1609) 
and  Lake  Huron  (1615).  The  French  settlements  were 
seized  by  the  English  between  1609  and  1629,  but  they  were 
restored  to  France  by  the  Treaty  of  St.  Germain  in  1632. 


I6o3] 


The  Virginia  Company 


Three  voyages  made 


The  French  colonies  grew  very  slowly ;  at  the  end  of  the 
century  (1699)  there  were  not  one  thousand  French  settlers 
living  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River. 

36.  Revival  of  English  Enter 
prise.  —  The  last  part  of  the  six 
teenth  century   was    a    time  of 
great  social  unrest  in  England. 
Large  numbers  of  persons  were 
obliged  to  seek  their  livelihoods 
in  new  and   untried  directions. 
All  eyes  were  turned  to  foreign 
lands,  where  the  daring  voyages 
of  Drake    and    his-  companions 
had  revealed  to  Englishmen  the 
achievements    of     the      Portu 
guese,  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Dutch. 

to  the  New  England  coast  attracted  attention  to  that  part 
of  the  continent  and  led  to  a  great  scheme  of  colonization. 
The  first  of  these  voyages  was  that  of  Bartholomew  Gosnold. 
Leaving  England  in  March,  1602,  he  reached  the  New 
England  coast,  built  a  trading  house  on  one  of  the  Elizabeth 
Islands,  filled  his  vessel's  hold  with  a  valuable  cargo,  and 
returned  safely  to  England  before  the  end  of  the  following 
July.  His  goods  were  at  once  seized  by  Ralegh.  In  1603 
Martin  Pring  visited  Plymouth  harbor,  which  he  named 
Whitson  Bay;  he  too  returned  with  a  valuable  cargo.  The 
voyage  which  attracted  most  attention,  however,  was  that 
of  George  Weymouth  to  the  coast  of  Maine  in  1605.  He 
returned  home  with  the  most  encouraging  accounts  of  a 
climate  well  suited  to  nutmegs  and  tropical  plants,  —  he 
was  there  in  the  siimmer,  —  and  he  also  reported  that  the 
signs  of  gold  were  abundant. 

37.  The   Virginia  Company,   1606. — Meantime    Ralegh 
had  fallen  under  the  displeasure  of  the  new  king,  James  I. 
His  property  was  seized  and  Virginia  was  taken  from  him. 
In  1606  James  granted  the  first  Virginia  charter.      In  this 


Treaty  of  St. 
Germain, 
1632. 

American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  16, 
p.  IO. 


Gosnold's 
voyage,  1602. 
Winsor's 
America, 
III,  172; 
Higginson's 
Explorers, 
203-213. 


Weymouth's 
voyage,  1605. 
Winsor's 
America, 

111,174; 
Higginson's 
Explorers, 
213-221. 


Colonization 


[§38 


Limits  of 
Virginia, 
1606.      Hins- 
dale's  Old 
Northwest, 
72 ;  Ameri 
can  History 
Leaflets,  No. 
16,  p.  3. 


First  settle 
ment  in 
Maine,  1607. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 
175;   Higgin- 
son's  Ex 
plorers,  222- 
225. 


document  Virginia  was  defined  as  extending  from  the  thirty- 
fourth  to  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude  ;  or  from  the 
Cape  Fear  River  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  members  of 
the  corporation  formed  under  this  charter  resided  in  or  near 
London,  and  also  in  the  southwestern  part  of  England  in 
the  vicinity  of  Plymouth  in  Devonshire.  The  company  was 
divided  into  two  subcompanies  corresponding  to  this  geo 
graphical  division  among  its  members :  to  the  Londoners 
the  king  gave  the  sole  right  to  colo 
nize  the  territory  between  thirty-four 
and  thirty-eight  degrees  of  north 
latitude,  or  between  the  Cape  Fear 
and  Potomac  rivers ;  to  the  Plym 
outh  men  he  gave  a  similar  right  to 
plant  colonies  between  forty-one  and 
forty-five  degrees  of  north  latitude 
or  between  the  Hudson  River  and 
the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  intervening 
region,  stretching  from  the  thirty- 
eighth  to  the  forty-first  degree  of 
north  latitude,  was  left  open  to 
whichever  of  the  two  companies 
should  first  colonize  it ;  but  it  was 
provided  that  neither  company  could 
plant  a  colony  within  one  hundred 
Virginia.  1606  miles  of  a  settlement  aiready  made 

by  the  other.  This  singular  arrangement  was  devised,  to  use 
the  words  of  the  charter,  "  for  the  more  speedy  accomplish 
ment  of  their  said  intended  plantation ;  "  but  the  provision 
led  to  nothing  of  the  kind. 

38.  The  Popham  Colony,  1607.  —  Sir  John  Popham,  Chief 
Justice  of  England,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  the  Gilberts 
were  the  leading  members  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  or 
subcompany,  to  be  more  accurate.  On  May  31,  1607,  a 
fleet  under  George  Popham,  brother  of  the  Chief  Justice, 
and  Ralegh  Gilbert  sailed  for  the  coast  of  what  is  now  the 
state  of  Maine.  They  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kenne- 


I6o7] 


The  Jamestown  Colony 


53 


bee,  built  a  fort,  and  explored  the  country.  They  found  no 
gold  ;  the  natives  proved  unfriendly ;  and  the  winter  was 
severe  beyond  anything  they  had  ever  conceived.  They 
seized  the  first  opportunity  to  abandon  the  enterprise  and 
returned  home  in  the  following  spring  (1608). 

39.   The  Jamestown  Colony,  1607.  —  The  London  Com-   The  London 
pany   had    promptly   made    preparations    to    colonize    the   C°mPany« 
southern  portion  of  Virginia.     Its  treasurer  or  chief  execu 
tive  officer  was  an  energetic   business   man,  Sir   Thomas 


(a)  Virginia,  1609  (3) 

Smith ;  among  its  leading  members  were  Sir  Thomas  Gates 
and  Lord  de  la  Warr.  The  first  colonists  left  the  Thames  in 
midwinter,  1606-7  ;  in  the  following  spring  they  reached 
the  capes  of  the  Chesapeake,  which  they  named  for  the 
two  sons  of  King  James,  —  Cape  Henry  and  Cape  Charles. 
They  began  their  settlement  on  the  southernmost  of  the 
rivers  which  flow  into  the  bay,  calling  it  the  James  River, 
while  to  their  village  they  gave  the  name  of  Jamestown. 
Their  trials  and  adventures,  and  the  heroism  displayed  by 


Founding  of 
Virginia, 
1607.    Win- 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  III,  127- 
137;  *H art's 
Contempora 
ries,  I,  Nos. 
62,63;  Hig- 
ginson's 
Explorers, 
231-265. 


54  Colonization  [§  40 

the  members  of  this  little  band,  can  be  best  understood  by 
a  perusal  of  the  quaint  account  of  the  most  capable    man 
Smith's  True   amongst  them,  Captain  John  Smith.     His   True  Relation, 
Relation  m      which  was  printed  in  1608,  may  be  read  with  confidence,  if 
History  Leaf-   one  bears  in  mind  the  conceit  of  its  author.     The  site  of  the 
lets,  No.  27.     settlement  proved  to  be  a  poor  one ;  of  the  one  hundred 
and  five  original  settlers,  fifty  were  dead  within  six  months. 
The  company  expected  immediate  profit ;  this  led  to  cease 
less   explorations    for  gold,   to  the   neglect   of  agriculture. 
Furthermore,  the  colony  was  on   a    military  basis,  —  each 
man's  labor  was  for  the  common  benefit,  and  each  man  was 
fed  out  of  a  common  store.     There  was  no  spur  to  laborious 
exertion,  and  discipline,  which  alone  could  take  the  place 
of  self-interest,  was  almost  entirely  lacking.     Starvation  and 
disease  more  than  once  threatened  to  break  up  the  settle 
ment. 

New  charter,       40.   The  Virginia  Charters  of  1609  and  1612.  —  In  1609 
I6°9-  the  king  granted  a  new  charter  to  the  London  group  of  the 

original  Virginia  Company ;  the  new  corporation  was  given 
more  authority  over  its  colonists,  and  the  limits  of  its  terri 
tory  were  defined,  though  vaguely.     These  were  now  to  be 
two   hundred    miles    from    Point  Comfort    (the  Old   Point 
Limits  under   Comfort  of  the  present  day)  in  either  direction  along  the 
this  charter,     coast,  "  and  all  that  space  and  circuit  of  land,  lying  from 
Old  North-      ^e   seacoast  of   the   precinct  aforesaid,  up   into  the  land 
west,  73-78;     throughout    from    sea   to    sea,   west  and  northwest."     The 
American        interpretation  of  this  latter  provision  gave  much  trouble  in 
lets.  No.  16,     ^ter  days  :  which  line  should  be  run  westward  and  which 
p.  5.  northwestward?     If  the  northern  line  were  run   westward 

and  the  southern  line  northwestward,  Virginia  would  be 
triangular  in  shape  (a).  As  the  northern  limit  and  the 
western  direction  were  first  mentioned  in  the  respective 
clauses  of  the  charter,  it  might  easily  be  argued  that  this 
was  the  intention  of  the  king ;  but  on  the  other  side  it 
could  be  urged  that  in  case  the  lines  were  drawn  in  this 
way  Virginia  would  not  extend  from  "  sea  to  sea,"  as  the 
charter  expressly  provided.  To  accomplish  that  object,  the 


i6u] 


Dales  Administration 


55 


southern  line  must  be  drawn  westward  and  the  northern  line 
northwestward  (^). 

In  1612  the  king  granted  the  Virginia  Company  still 
another  charter  extending  the  limits  of  Virginia  eastward 
to  include  the  Bermudas,  or  Somers  Isles,  as  they  were 
then  called.  The  company  also  received  nearly  complete 
governing  powers  and  was  authorized  to  hold  general  meet 
ings  of  all  the  freemen  or  shareholders  of  the  company,  — 
the  General  Courts,  as  they  were  termed.  These  courts  were 
held  at  London. 

41.  Dale's  Administration.  —  In  1611  Sir  Thomas  Dale 
came  to  Virginia  as  ruler  of  the  colony.  He  was  a  strict 
disciplinarian  and  at  once  introduced  vigor  and  order  into 
the  affairs  of  the  plantation.  It  is  reported  that  as  he  sailed 
into  the  James  River  he  saw  two  men  reclining  by  the  river's 
bank  and  promptly  set  them  to  work.  To  arouse  the  need 
ful  self-interest,  he  granted  to  each  of  the  old  planters  three 
acres  of  land  for  his  own,  and  in  this  way  began  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  system  which  had  so  far  hampered  the  colony's 
prosperity.  Dale's  rule  in  Virginia  is  chiefly  remembered, 
however,  in  connection  with  a  severe  system  of  laws  which 
were  established  in  his  time.  This  code  was  entitled  "  Arti 
cles,  Lawes,  and  Orders,  Divine,  Politique,  and  Martiall  for 
the  Colony  in  Virginea,"  and  was  said  to  be  based  on  the 
military  systems  of  the  Netherlands.  Many  of  its  clauses, 
however,  have  a  character  one  usually  associates  with  the 
so-called  "  blue-laws  "  of  the  New  England  colonies.  For 
instance,  Article  vi  provides  that  "  every  man  and  woman 
duly  twice  a  day  upon  the  first  tovvling  of  the  Bell  shall 
upon  working  daies  repaire  unto  the  church,  to  hear  divine 
Service  upon  pain  of  losing  his  or  her  dayes  allowance  for 
the  first  omission,  for  the  second  to  be  whipped,  and  for  the 
third  to  be  condemned  to  the  Gallies  for  six  moneths."  The 
thirty-third  article  further  prescribes  that  all  persons  shall 
satisfy  the  minister  of  their  religious  soundness  or  place 
themselves  under  his  instruction ;  for  neglecting  this  duty 
a  third  time  the  offender  should  "  be  whipt  every  day  until 


Charter  of 
1612. 


Dale's  ad 
ministration. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 
I37-I4L 


"  Dale's 
Laws,"  1611. 
Gay's  Popu 
lar  History, 
I,  300. 


Religious 
observances. 


Colonization 


[§42 


Tobacco 
culture. 


Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  83. 

The 

Puritans 
and  the 
colonists. 


Virginia 
Assembly, 
1619. 

Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  65. 


he  hath  made  the  same  acknowledgement,  and  asked  for 
giveness,  and  shall  repaire  unto  the  Minister  to  be  further 
instructed  by  him."  Article  iii  provided  that  no  man  should 
"speak  against  God's  name  "  or  "  the  known  articles  of  the 
Christian  faith,"  —  namely,  those  of  the  Church  of  England, 
—  under  pain  of  death.  A  second  conviction  of  "  cursing  " 
was  punished  by  having  a  bodkin  thrust  through  the  tongue, 
and  for  the  third  offence  the  culprit  suffered  death.  Other 
articles  provided  penalties  for  neglect  of  work  (three  years 
in  the  galleys),  and  no  person  could  sell  anything  to  be 
transported  out  of  the  colony  under  pain  of  death. 

That  Virginia  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
permanent  English  colony  to  be  founded  in  America  is  due 
mainly  to  the  rapidity  with  which  mankind  adopted  the 
practice  of  using  tobacco  in  one  form  or  another.  The 
Czar  of  Russia  decreed  that  smokers  should  have  their 
noses  cut  off,  but  this  and  other  prohibitions  were  in  vain, 
and  the  tobacco  habit  spread  throughout  Christendom  faster 
than  any  religion  or  language  has  ever  spread.  From  the 
moment  that  the  production  of  tobacco  became  profitable, 
the  future  of  Virginia  was  assured. 

42.  Introduction  of  Representative  Institutions.  —  Be 
tween  1614  and  1618  the  Virginia  Company  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Puritans,  and  its  character  was  radically 
changed.  In  1618  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  one  of  the  leaders 
of  that  party  in  the  House  of  Commons,  displaced  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  as  treasurer  of  the  company.  The  Puritans 
believed  in  the  civil  equality  of  man  ;  it  mattered  not  to 
them  whether  one  were  a  dweller  in  the  home  land  or  in  the 
colonies.  They  sent  over  Sir  George  Yeardley  as  governor 
in  1619.  His  instructions  directed  him  to  summon  two 
burgesses  to  be  freely  elected  by  the  inhabitants  of  each 
plantation  or  other  convenient  local  unit.  These  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people,  with  the  Governor  and  Council, 
were  to  form  a  General  Assembly.  Yeardley  at  once  carried 
out  his  instructions,  and  the  first  representative  legislative 
body  in  the  history  of  America  met  in  the  church  at  James- 


1619]        Overthrow  of  the  Virginia   Company  57 

town  in  1619.  Dale's  Laws  were  at  once  repealed  and  a 
much  milder  code  substituted.  Every  one  was  still  required 
to  attend  divine  service  according  to  the  Church  of  Eng 
land  twice  each  Sunday,  but  the  penalty  for  staying  away 
was  reduced  to  three  shillings  for  each  offense.  Many  of 
the  new  laws  restrained  personal  liberty  ;  while  others  limited 
the  production  of  tobacco  and  encouraged  the  cultivation 
of  food  stuffs. 

43.  Introduction  of  Forced  Labor.  —  With  increasing  pros-    Indentured 
perity  came  a  better  class  of  colonists  :  many  men  of  sub-   servants- 
stance   and    ability   emigrated    to  Virginia ;    they  acquired 

great  tracts  of  land  and  cultivated  tobacco  on  a  large 
scale.  In  this  way  was  created  a  demand  for  cheap,  un 
skilled  labor.  Shiploads  of  convicts,  of  runaways,  and  of 
persons  who  had  been  kidnapped  were  sent  to  Virginia  to 
be  bound  out  as  servants  or  apprentices  for  a  term  of  years, 
or  perhaps  for  their  lives,  as  the  case  might  be.  These 
were  the  indentured  servants,  or  "  indented  servants,"  as 
they  were  usually  termed  in  the  colony.  Many  poor  but 
respectable  persons  gladly  adopted  this  means  to  secure  a 
new  start  in  the  world.  The  same  year  (1619)  that  saw 
the  establishment  of  representative  institutions  witnessed 
also  the  introduction  of  negro  slavery.  The  first  negroes  Negro 
were  brought  to  Jamestown  in  a  Dutch  vessel  and  may  be  slavery 

."  ,  .  .  .  i       .    .'  introduced, 

regarded  as  a  chance  importation,  not  one  made  in  any  l6l9> 
way  to  answer  a  demand  already  in  existence.  Employers 
appear  to  have  preferred  the  forced  labor  of  whites  to  that 
of  blacks ;  slavery  in  consequence  increased  very  slowly, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  century  that  there 
were  many  slaves  in  the  colony. 

44.  Overthrow   of   the   Virginia   Company,    1624.  —  The   The  end  of 
Puritans,  who  were  now  in  control  of  the  Virginia  Company,   the  Virsmia 
were  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of  King  James ;  they  did  not 

always  heed  his  requests,  and  the  General  Courts  of  the 
corporation  afforded  them  a  convenient  opportunity  to  meet 
and  plan  to  oppose  the  king's  measures.  It  was  determined 
to  overthrow  the  company.  James  had  now  reached  that 


Colonisation 


[§45 


The 

Assembly 
of  1629. 


Opposition 
to  Governor 
Harvey. 


part  of  his  reign  when  he  found  himself  obliged  to  proceed 
with  great  caution,  as  war  with  Spain  had  again  broken  out. 
With  his  habitual  cunning,  he  appointed  a  commission  to 
collect  evidence  and  to  excite  animosity  against  the  com 
pany  in  Virginia.  This  plan,  however,  was  not  successful ; 
but  an  Indian  massacre  (1622)  gave  the  government  the 
opportunity  to  charge  the  company  with  failure  to  protect 
its  colonists.  The  charter  was  annulled  in  1624. 

45.  Virginia  under  the  Royal  Governors,  1624-52.  —  The 
fall  of  the  Virginia  Company  brought  slight  change  to  Vir 
ginia  :  the  royal  governors  enjoyed  about  the  same  powers 
that  Yeardley  had  exercised ;  but  it  is  not  certain  that 
assemblies  were  held  in  the  years  immediately  following  the 
downfall  of  the  company.  Meantime  James  had  died,  and 
the  new  king,  Charles  I,  was  greatly  in  need  of  funds  to 
maintain  the  government  of  England  without  holding  a 
Parliament  (p.  70).  He,  or  his  ministers,  conceived  the 
idea  that  a  handsome  profit  might  be  made  from  a  monopoly 
of  the  tobacco  trade.  The  co-operation  of  the  Virginians 
was  necessary  to  the  successful  working  of  the  plan,  and  a 
General  Assembly  was  held  in  Virginia  (1629)  to  secure 
their  consent  to  the  scheme.  The  colonists  refused  to 
become  parties  to  the  arrangement,  but  the  holding  of  the 
assembly  was  important,  as  it  proved  to  be  the  precedent 
for  the  summoning  of  legislative  bodies  thereafter  in  all  the 
royal  provinces. 

The  first  of  the  royal  governors  to  attract  attention  was 
John  Harvey,  who  won  the  planters'  hatred  by  his  arbitrary 
conduct.  Besides,  the  Virginians  disliked  his  kind  treat 
ment  of  Lord  Baltimore's  colonists  when  they  came  to  settle 
Maryland,  for  that  province  had  been  carved  out  of  territory 
granted  to  the  Virginia  Company.  Harvey,  as  representa 
tive  of  the  king  in  America,  was  obliged  to  do  what  he 
could  to  forward  his  master's  wishes,  but  this  only  increased 
the  hatred  with  which  the  Virginians  regarded  their  ruler. 
Some  of  the  bolder  among  them  arrested  him,  sent  him  to 
England  to  answer  their  complaints,  and  a  few  of  them  even 


1629]         Virginia  during  Puritan  Supremacy 


59 


went  to  England  to  lay  their  case  before  the  king.  Harvey 
was  soon  sent  back,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  little  was  done 
to  punish  the  Virginians  for  their  contempt  of  the  king's 
representative. 

In  1642  Sir  William  Berkeley  arrived  in  Virginia  as  gov 
ernor.  His  rule  was  the  longest  in  colonial  history,  lasting 
from  1642  to  1652,  and  again  from  1659  to  1676.  During 
the  first  of  these  periods  the  Puritans  appeared  in  Virginia 
and  made  many  converts  to  their  peculiar  beliefs.  Berkeley 
and  the  leading  men  were  alarmed  at  their  success  and  made 
sharp  laws  against  them.  In  the  end  most  of  them  crossed 
the  Potomac  to  Maryland. 

46.  Virginia  during  the  Puritan  Supremacy.  —  While 
Berkeley  had  been  governing  faithfully  for  king  and  church 
in  Virginia,  both  king  and  church  had  succumbed  to  the 
Puritans  (p.  70)  in  England.  The  execution  of  Charles  I 
aroused  no  answering  echo  in  the  Old  Dominion.  On  the 
contrary,  Berkeley  sought  to  convert  the  colony  into  an 
asylum  for  the  party  which  had  suffered  defeat  in  England ; 
but  the  second  Charles  and  his  followers  generally  preferred 
the  luxury  of  European  exile  to  the  wilderness  of  America. 

The  Puritans,  now  supreme  in  England,  offered  most  gen 
erous  terms  to  the  colonists  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  New 
England,  —  nothing  less  than  free  trade  between  the  colonies 
and  the  mother  country,  on  condition  that  the  colonists 
would  confine  their  commerce  to.  England.  As  the  case 
then  stood,  the  proposition  was  for  free  trade  within  the 
British  Empire,  much  as  there  is  now  free  trade  within  the 
United  States.  The  Virginians  would  have  none  of  it.  For 
a  few  years  the  affairs  of  Ireland  and  Scotland  occupied 
the  energies  of  the  Puritan  rulers  of  England.  In  1652 
they  turned  their  attention  for  a  moment  to  the  rebellious 
colony ;  a  small  fleet  sailed  across  the  Atlantic,  and  the 
Virginians  surrendered  without  striking  a  blow.  The  terms 
offered  by  the  conquerors  were  singularly  liberal :  the  colo 
nists  were  required  to  recognize  the  authority  of  the  Com 
monwealth  ;  in  other  respects  they  were  left  to  govern 


Sir  William 
Berkeley. 


Execution  of 
Charles  I. 


The  Puritans 
and  Virginia. 


Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  69. 


6o 


Colonization 


[§47 


Hammond's 
"  Leah  and 
Rachel,"  in 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
I,  343- 

Reasons  for 
founding 
Maryland. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 

SI7-S29; 
Browne's 
Culverts, 
ch.  ii ;  Hart's 
Contempora 
ries,  I,  No. 
72. 


themselves.  For  six  years  the  Virginians  elected  their  own 
governors,  enjoyed  the  most  complete  independence  they 
ever  had  before  1776,  and  were  very  prosperous.  In  1659, 
on  the  fall  of  the  Protectorate  in  England,  they  chose 
Berkeley  as  governor,  and  he  was  in  office  in  1660. 

47.  The  Calverts  and  Maryland.  —  Maryland  owed  its 
rise  to  the  action  of  two  remarkable  men,  —  George  and 
Cecilius  Calvert,  father  and  son.  They  desired  to  build 
up  for  the  benefit  of  their  family  a  great  landed  estate  in 
America  and  also  hoped  that  their  fellow  Catholics  would 
find  an  asylum  in  the  colony.  The  Calverts  were  men  of 
broad  and  statesmanlike  views,  and  deserve  the  greatest 
credit  for  the  liberal  spirit  which  they  displayed  in  the 
management  of  their  colonies. 

George    Calvert,   the    father,    was    a   prominent   man    in 

England  during  the 
last  years  of  the  reign 
of  James  and  in  the 
early  years  of  the  rule 
of  Charles.  He  be 
came  one  of  the  prin 
cipal  secretaries  of 
state.  At  some  time 
before  1625 — the  pre 
cise  date  is  not  certain 
—  he  became  a  Roman 
Catholic;  in  1625  he 
withdrew  from  office. 
Calvert  now  actively 
embarked  in  schemes 


Charters  of  New  England  and  Maryland 


of  colonization.  His  first  venture,  a  settlement  in  New 
foundland,  ended  in  failure.  He  then  determined  to  trans 
fer  the  scene  of  his  colonial  enterprise  to  the  warmer 
climate  of  Virginia,  and  obtained  from  the  king  a  grant  of 
the  unoccupied  land  north  of  the  Potomac.  George  Calvert 
died  before  the  charter  was  actually  issued  and  it  was  given 
to  his  son,  Cecilius,  who  was  scarcely  inferior  to  his  father 


1632]  Government  of  Maryland  6 1 

in  judgment,  although  without  the  latter's  experience  in  the 
management  of  affairs. 

48.  Boundaries   of   Maryland. — The   limits    of  the  new   The 
province   were    set    forth    with    great    inexactness    in    the   MarYIand 
charter.     The    intention    of  the    king  undoubtedly  was  to   Hinsdate's 
give  to  Baltimore  all  the  unsettled  land  in  Virginia  north    Old  Nor th- 
of  the  Potomac  and   south   of  the   fortieth   parallel,  —  the   JJ**?8^ 
southern  boundary  of  New  England  according  to  the  charter   History  Leaf- 
of  1620  (p.  63).     Owing,  however,  to  the  imperfection  of   lefs>  No-  l6- 
geographical  knowledge  of  those   days,  this   intention  was  F 

only  partially  carried  out. 

Among  the  more  important  provisions  of  the  Maryland   Western 
charter   is    one   which    assigned    to    Baltimore's    colony   a  limit> 
western   boundary,  —  the    meridian    of  the    source   of   the 
Potomac.     During  the  seventeenth  century  this  restriction 
did  not  matter  much,  but  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  emigration  to  western  lands  began  to  attract 
attention,  Maryland  found  itself  placed  at  a  great  disadvan 
tage  as  compared  with  Virginia- and  Pennsylvania  (§  172.) 

The  southern  boundary  of  the  new  colony  was  the  south-  Southern 
ern  bank  of  the  Potomac  from  its  source  to  a  certain  place  limit- 
named  "Cinquack,"  thence  across  Chesapeake  Bay  by  the 
"  shortest  line  "  to  "  Watkins'  Point,"  and  thence  "unto  the 
main  ocean."  This  is  one  of  the  few  instances  in  history 
where  the  bank  of  a  river  forms  an  important  boundary; 
-usually  such  a  line  follows  the  channel.  In  this  case  it  gave 
rise  to  disputes  between  Virginia  and  Maryland,  which,  one 
hundred  and  fifty-five  years  later,  led  to  the  summoning  of 
the  Federal  Convention  (§  179).  The  northern  limit  of 
Maryland  was  the  fortieth  parallel,  but  the  disputes  which 
arose  over  it  will  be  better  understood  when  we  come  to  a 
study  of  the  limits  of  Pennsylvania  (§  88). 

49.  Government  of  Maryland.  —  Maryland   was   made  a   Authority  "of 
province  under  the  crown,  and  the  Barons  of  Baltimore,  as   the  Pr°Prie- 
proprietaries,  were  given  extensive  powers  of  government. 

One  important  limitation  of  their  power  should  be  noted: 
they  could  legislate  and  tax  only  with  the  consent  of  the 


62 


Colonization 


[§50 


Dispute  as  to 
the  initiative. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 

529; 

Browne's 
Calverts, 
ch.  v. 


Toleration 
Act. 

Browne's 
Calverts, 
chs.  vi,  viii ; 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 
533-536 ; 
*Hart's   Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  84. 


Winsor's 
America, III, 
ch.  xiii ; 
Hammond's 
"  Leah  and 
Rachel,"  in 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
I,  347- 


freemen,  by  which  word  all  free  adult  male  whites  seem 
to  have  been  intended.  This  made  it  necessary  to  hold 
assemblies  from  the  beginning.  Disputes  between  the  pro 
prietary  and  the  freemen  at  once  began.  Baltimore,  rely 
ing  on  the  words  of  the  charter,  claimed  the  right  to  initiate 
or  begin  legislation ;  he  refused  his  assent  to  a  code  of  laws 
enacted  by  the  freemen,  and  they,  in  turn,  refused  their 
consent  to  a  code  which  he  drew  up.  In  the  end,  Baltimore 
was  compelled  to  yield,  and  thus  at  the  outset  lost  much  of 
the  power  which  he  had  expected  to  exercise.  Furthermore, 
the  laws  of  Maryland  were  not  submitted  to  the  English 
government ;  but  any  law  was  of  no  force  if  it  was  contrary 
to  the  laws  and  customs  of  England. 

50.  Toleration  Act,  1649. — The  leading  colonists  of 
Maryland  were  for  the  most  part  Roman  Catholics,  but 
many  of  the  settlers,  including  some  important  men,  were 
Protestants.  Puritans  from  Virginia  entered  the  colony, 
and  their  friends  were  fast  gaining  the  upper  hand  in  Eng 
land.  In  1649  tne  Maryland  assembly  passed  the  Tolera 
tion  Act,  to  the  effect  that  no  one  should  be  molested  for 
his  religious  beliefs,  provided  he  were  a  Christian.  This  is 
one  of  the  most  memorable  acts  of  the  colonial  period,  and 
is  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  history  of  modern  times  ;  but  it 
should  always  be  most  carefully  borne  in  mind  that  absolute 
religious  freedom  existed  at  this  time  in  Rhode  Island,  owing 
to  the  liberal  spirit  of  the  Puritan  leader  of  that  colony,  — 
Roger  Williams.  Both  Catholic  and  Protestant  writers  have 
endeavored  to  secure  for  their  respective  sides  the  credit  for 
the  passage  of  this  law ;  but  now  it  is  generally  thought  that 
the  law  was  in  the  nature  ot  a  compromise.  Soon  after 
wards,  in  the  time  of  the  Protectorate,  Maryland  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Puritans,  who  oppressed  the  Catholics.  In 
1657,  however,  these  disputes  were  arranged  and  the  Tolera 
tion  Act  was  restored.  There  were  also  many  controversies 
with  Virginians,  especially  with  a  man  named  Claiborne,  and 
the  contests  with  them  and  with  the  Puritans  always  occupy 
a  large  space  in  Maryland  histories. 


1 649] 


The  Pilgrims 


51.  The  Council   for  New  England,   1620.  —  For   many 
years  after  the  unhappy  attempt  to  found  a  colony  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Kennebec  (§   38),   no  English  colonists  ap 
proached  the  shores  of  northern  Virginia.     The  success  of 
the  Virginians  again  awakened  the  interest  of  the  survivors 
of  the   Plymouth  Company  under  the  first  Virginia  charter. 
They,  with  some  new  associates,  applied  for  a  charter  and 
obtained  (1620)  a  grant  of  all  America  between  forty  and 
forty-eight  degrees   of  north  latitude    under    the  name    of 
New  England  (map  p.  60).     The  grantees,  under  this  new 
patent,  never  did  much  in  the  way  of  colonization ;  they 
acted  rather  as  a  great  land  company.     The  settlement  of 
New  England  was  due  to  men  of  a  different  stamp,  whose 
departure  from  their  native  land  was  owing  mainly  to  the 
religious  contest  then  raging  in  England,  although  many  of 
them  were  impelled  by  self-interest  as  well. 

52.  The   English  Puritans. — -The  English  Reformation 
resulted  in  the  separation  of  the  church  in  England  from 
the  existing  Catholic  church.    This  was  as  far  as  the  English 
monarchs  and  the  mass  of  the  English  people  wished  to  go, 
but  there  were  many  earnest  persons  who  desired  to  proceed 
much  farther  and  to  purge  the  English  church  of  what  they 
deemed  to  be  abuses.     These  reformers  were  called  Puri 
tans,  and  were  themselves  divided  into  two  groups,  which 
shaded  one  into  the  other.     The  more  conservative  of  them 
were  the  Nonconformists,  who  desired  to  reform  the  Church 
of  England  while  remaining  members  of  it.     The  more  rad 
ical  ones  were  willing  to  separate  from  the  church,  provided 
they  could  worship  God  in  their  own  way  ;  these  were  known 
as  the  Separatists. 

53.  The  Pilgrims.  —  Among  the  Separatist  congregations 
was  one  which  met  in  the  dwelling  of  William  Brewster  in 
the  little  hamlet  of  Scrooby  in  Nottinghamshire.     With  the 
coming  of  James  the  Puritans  were  persecuted  because  he 
was  determined  to  make  them  conform  or  to  "  harry  them 
out  of  the  land."     They  resolved  to  seek  an  asylum  in  a 
foreign  country,  where  they  might  enjoy  freedom  to  worship 


Council  for 
New  Eng 
land,  1620. 
Winsor's 
America, III, 
295 ;  Ameri 
can  History 
Leaflets,  No. 
16,  p.  7. 


The 

Puritans. 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
50-66 ; 
Gardiner's 
Puritan 
Revolution  ; 
J.  R.  Green's 
Short  His 
tory. 


The 

Pilgrims. 

Winsor's 

America,  III, 

257-266 ; 

Dexter's 

Pilgrims, 

pp.  61,  117; 

Fiske's  Neu, 

England, 

71-75- 


1  620]  The  Pilgrim  Compact  65 

God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  consciences.  After 
encountering  great  hardships,  they  settled  at  Amsterdam  in 
Holland  (1608);  later,  they  removed  to  Leyden.  There 
they  remained  several  years,  leading  such  laborious  lives 
that  many  of  their  friends  "  preferred  the  prisons  of  Eng 
land  to  such  liberty  as  this  was."  At  length  they  deter 
mined  to  make  another  pilgrimage.  The  reasons  which  led  American 
them  to  form  this  resolve  should  be  read  in  the  words  of 


William  Bradford,  the  heroic  chronicler  of  their  glorious  en-  p-7't 
terprise.  In  brief,  they  desired  to  better  their  worldly  con 
dition  and  to  provide  for  the  well-being  of  their  posterity  as 
they  could  not  do  at  Leyden.  They  also  feared  lest  their 
children  should  lose  their  English  speech  and  habits.  The 
venture  seemed  to  be  full  of  perils,  but  they  felt  that  it  was 
worth  trying,  and  they  reflected  that  all  important  under 
takings  "  must  be  both  enterprized  and  overcome  with 
answerable  courages."  The  Virginia  Company  was  now 
controlled  by  the  English  Puritans,  who  were  easily  per 
suaded  to  grant  the  Pilgrims  permission  to  settle  within  the 
limits  of  Virginia.  The  emigrants  also  endeavored  to  secure 
from  James  a  guarantee  that  they  should  not  be  molested  on 
account  of  their  religion.  This  was  refused,  as  it  was  sus 
pected  that  their  design  was  "  to  make  a  free  popular  state 
there  "  ;  the  king  seems  to  have  hinted,  however,  that  "  he 
would  connive  at  them  and  not  molest  them,  provided  they 
carried  themselves  peaceably." 

54.   The   Pilgrim  Compact,  1620.  —  The   events    of    the   Voyage 
Pilgrims'  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  and  the  hardships  of  across  .the 
the  first  years  of  their  life  at  Plymouth  are  so  well  known   Dexter's 
that   it   is  unnecessary  to  describe  them.     After   enduring  Pilgrims, 
privations  unknown  to  emigrants  of  our  time,  the  Pilgrims   c  '  X1V* 
anchored  off  Cape  Cod  (November,  1620),  far  to  the  north 
of  their  destination,  and  found  themselves  obliged  to  settle   Bradford's 
in  that  region.     Being  outside  of  the  limits  of  the  Virginia   Plymouth 

s  Plantation  ; 

Company,  they  were  compelled  to  make  new  provision  for  American 
the  government  of  their  colony,  and  drew  up   a  compact   History  Leaf- 
which  is  here  reproduced  from  Bradford's  manuscript.     The    efs>    °"  29' 


*§$ 

v»*.3 

v? 

^ 


i 


>|S&I41|5|4^ 

i  yiluUf-H*  *  M -fe 

fek'rSvi  «  3  3  ^  S 


}|  ^^4  s:V  ^  I  '0  ^  ^  "•*,  I  ? 

The  Pilgrim  Compact.     Facsimile  of  Bradford's  Manuscript 
(Reprinted  in  American  History  Leaflets,  No.  29,  p.  26) 


v»       v 

o  ^  « 


66 


1620]  The  Pilgrims  and  Communism  67 

document  was  signed  by  nearly  all  the  men  of  the  Pilgrim   The  Pilgrim 
band,  who  thus  agreed  to  be  bound  by  what  was  determined   ^6°2™pact' 

for  the  public  good.  Dexter's 

55.  Settlement  at  Plymouth,  1620.  —  After  careful  explo-  Pilgrims, 
ration,  while  the  Mayflower  remained  in  what  is  now  Prov- 
incetown  harbor,  the    Pilgrims  resolved,  December  21,  to  Plymouth 
settle  on  the  shores  of  a  haven  which  had  been  visited  by  settled'  l620- 

\Vinsor's 

Pring  and  Champlain.     In  1614  Captain  John  Smith  had  America, ill, 

also  sailed  along  the  New  England  coasts  and  had  printed  267-276; 

a  map  on  which  English  names  were  assigned  to  many  im-  »"  J^jLj  ™ 

portant  points;  among  others,  he  called  the  Port  St.  Louis  87;  Higgin- 

of  Champlain,  Plymouth.     On  December  16,  old  style,  or  son>s  Ex- 

December  26  according  to  our  mode  of  reckoning  time,  the  *°rers'^ 
Mayflower  anchored  in  Plymouth    harbor,  and    nine  days 
later   the  work   of  building   houses    for   the  colonists  was 
begun. 

The  Pilgrims  were  attracted  to  this  spot  because  the  land  The  Pilgrims 

was  already  cleared  of  the  trees  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  and  the 

Indians  in  the  neighborhood.    It  turned  out  that  the  natives  Dexter's 

who  had  formerly  lived  on  the  shores  of  Plymouth  harbor  Pilgrims, 

had  died  of  disease  a  few  years  before.     Only  one  of  the  'I1',™"' 

*  Fiske  s  New 

tribe  was  living ;  he  soon  appeared  at  Plymouth,  was  care-  England, 
fully  and  generously  supported  by  the  Pilgrims,  and  in  return 
taught  them  how  to  win  a  scanty  subsistence  from  the  barren 
soil  and  icy  waters  around  them.  The  Pilgrims  also  entered 
into  a  treaty  with  Massasoit,  the  most  powerful  chieftain  of 
southeastern  New  England,  and  this  agreement  both  parties 
faithfully  observed  for  more  than  half  a  century.  Other 
Englishmen  in  the  neighborhood  were  not  so  wise  in  their 
dealings  with  the  natives,  and  the  Pilgrims  found  themselves 
obliged  to  interfere  in  order  to  prevent  a  general  massacre. 
This  work  was  splendidly  done  by  Miles  Standish,  a  man  of 
cool  and  courageous  bearing. 

56.  The  Pilgrims  and  Communism.  —  The  terrible  mor 
tality  of  the  first  winter  and  the  hardships  of  the  succeeding 
years  were  due  in  part  to  the  poverty  of  the  Pilgrims,  to 
their  having  begun  their  settlement   in  midwinter,  and  to 


68 


Colonization 


[§57 


Slow  growth 
of  the  Pil 
grim  colony. 
Dexter's 
Pilgrims, 
237-246. 


Government 
under  the 
compact. 


the  barrenness  of  the  soil.  It  was  owing  in  large  measure, 
also,  to  the  system  of  common  labor,  which  has  never  had  a 
fairer  trial  than  it  had  at  the  hands  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plym 
outh.  At  length,  to  avoid  starvation,  one  acre  of  land  was 

given  to  each  head 
of  a  family,  to  be  cul 
tivated  for  his  own 
use  and  held  by  him 
until  the  end  of  the 
seven  years,  when  a 
general  division 
should  be  made. 
Later  on  (1626), the 
principal  men  joined 
together  and  bought 
out  the  English  part 
ners  for  eighteen  hun 
dred  pounds  sterling, 
to  be  paid  in  nine 
installments  ;  they 
found  the  means  to 
pay  this  great  sum  by 
prosecuting  a  profit 
able  fur  trade  with 
the  natives  on  the 
Kennebec  River  and 
elsewhere. 

57.  Form  of  Gov 
ernment.  —  In  the  be 
ginning  the  govern 
ment  of  Plymouth 
was  a  pure  democracy,  as  far  as  the  signers  of  the  com 
pact  were  concerned.  For  many  years  Bradford  was 
annually  chosen  governor ;  but  when  business  increased 
with  the  growth  of  the  colony,  other  men  were  elected  to 
assist  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  Important  matters 
were  transacted  at  meetings  of  all  the  signers  of  the  corn- 


Charters  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Caro- 
lana,  and  Carolina 


1629]  The  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  69 

pact  and  such  others  as  they  admitted  to  a  share  in  the 
government. 

The  colony  grew  slowly  through  the  settlement  of  other   Representa- 
towns  in  the  neighborhood.      Before  long   it  became  in*-  J|^sinstitu" 
convenient  for  the  voters  or  freemen  to  go  to  Plymouth  to 
attend  the  legislative  meeting,  or  General  Court,  as  it  was 
called.     This  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  representative 
system    (1638),    modeled   on   that   of  Massachusetts   Bay 
(§  61)  ;    but  all  the  freemen    continued    to    take   part   in 
the   annual   election   of  officers.      As   time   went   on,  the 
franchise  was   gradually   narrowed,   until   at  length  it   be 
came  practically  a  religious  qualification. 

58.  The  Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  1629.  —  Massachu 
setts  Bay  had  its  origin  in  the  desire  of  the  English  Non 
conformists  to  found  a  settlement  where  they  might  work 
out  their  own  ideas  in  church  and  state,  and  where,  should 
occasion  arise,  they  might  find  a  refuge  in  time  of  need. 
Some  of  them  obtained  a  grant  of  land  from  the  Council 
for  New  England  (§51)  extending  from  three  miles  south  The  Massa- 
of  the  Charles  River  to  three  miles  north  of  the  Merri-  chusetts 

Charter,i629. 

mac   and   every  part  thereof,    and  westward  between  the    old  South, 
parallels   of   points    three    miles   south   and   north    of  the 
sources  of  these  rivers  to  the  South  Sea  (1628).     The  next 
year   the  king  by   royal   charter   confirmed   this   grant  of  Boston,  1, 99. 
land  to  the  original  grantees  and  others  who  meantime  had 
become  associated  with  them  (1629).     In  the  same  char 
ter  the  king  gave  them  extensive  powers  of  jurisdiction, 
amounting  in  fact  to  self-government.     There  was  no  re 
quirement  that  the  seat  of  government  should  be  in  Eng 
land,  as  had  been  the  case  in  all  previous  grants.     The 
company  was  able  legally  to  transfer  the  government  of  the  The  Cam- 
colony  to  those  of  its  members  who  proposed  to  emigrate  ;   bndgeAgree- 

,  ,    .          ,         .  .        ment,  1629. 

by  so  doing  the  charter  of  a  colonizing  company  became  the  winsor's 

constitution  of  an  almost  independent  state.     The  decisive  Boston,  I, 

step  was  taken  at  Cambridge  (August,  1629)  when  many  jj^^j^ 

leading  Puritans  signed  an  agreement  binding  themselves  to  temporaries, 

emigrate  to  Massachusetts.  I.  No- Io6- 


Colonization 


[§59 


The  Puri 
tans,  the 
king,  and  the 
archbishop, 
1629-40. 
Gardiner's 
Puritan 
Revolution  ; 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
97-102. 


Fiske's  New 

England, 

137- 


59.  The  Puritans  in  England.  —  The  year  1628-29 
marked  the  end  of  the  first  period  in  the  contest  between 
the  Puritans  and  the  crown  over  the  question  of  taxation, 
a  question  which  really  included  all  others.  The  Petition 
of  Right,  to  which  the  king  had  reluctantly  assented  in  1628, 
was  violated,  according  to  the  Puritan  interpretation  of  its 
most  important  clause,  and  the  king,  dismissing  Parliament 
after  a  most  violent  scene  (1629),  arrested  those  who  had 
been  foremost  in  the  defense  of  the  cause  of  liberty,  and 
seemed  determined  to  govern  England  without  parliaments 
in  the  future.  Charles  now  began  to  rely  upon  the  advice 
and  judgment  of  William  Laud,  then  Bishop  of  London,  and 
later  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Like  the  king,  Laud  was 
a  sincere,  honest  man  of  narrow  mind  and  most  intolerant 
of  opposition.  Both  were  strongly  attached  to  the  cere 
monials  of  the  Established  Church  and  were  resolved  not 
merely  to  retain  those  still  in  existence,  but  to  bring  back 
many  which  had  been  discarded  in  former  years.  Deprived 
of  their  money  without  the  consent  of  Parliament,  and 
forced  to  take  part  in  services  which  they  regarded  as  idol 
worship,  the  Nonconformists  resolved  to  make  use  of  their 
charter  and  settle  a  colony  in  New  England,  where  they 
would  be  far  away  from  king  and  archbishop.  This  period 
of  depression  for  the  Puritans  continued  for  eleven  years 
(1629-40),  when  the  king's  quarrel  with  the  Scots  com 
pelled  him  again  to  summon  Parliament,  this  time  under 
circumstances  which  gave  the  Puritans  and  other  enemies 
of  despotic  government  the  power  to  compel  him  at  least 
to  listen  to  their  remonstrances.  From  that  time  on  the 
Puritans  acquired  more  and  more  authority,  until  the  deci- 
siye  battle  of  Naseby  (1645)  made  them  masters  of  England. 
\^The  New  England  colonies  of  Tvfassachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven  Jvvere  founded  in  the 
years  of  the  supremacy  of  William  Laud ;  his  downfall  led 
to  an  abrupt  termination  of  Puritan  emigration  from  Eng 
land  ;  indeed,  the  movement  began  in  the  other  direction, 
and  many  of  the  leading  New  England  colonists  exercised 


1630]  Problems  of  Government  71 

great  influence  in  England  during  the  time  of  the  Common 
wealth  and  Protectorate. 

60.  The  Great  Emigration,   1630-40.  —  The   Massachu-   Settlement  of 
setts  Bay  Company  planted  its  first  colony  at  Salem  in  1628  :    Massachu- 

I       -  -   *         ,  i-ii  i  .       setts,  1628- 

m  1629  the  transfer  of  the  charter  was  decided  upon,  and  in   30     Fjske's 
1630  the  "  great  emigration  "  began.    Led  by  John  Winthrop,   New  Eng- 
a  man  of  property  and  ability,  a  fleet  of  fifteen  vessels  sailed   {a"d' )88-I°4: 

''  Harts  Con- 

across    the    Atlantic.      More   than    one    thousand    colonists  temporaries, 

arrived  during  this  year  and  founded  the  towns  of  Boston,  !.  Nos-  56- 

Charlestown,  Roxbury,  Dorchester,  Watertown,  and   New-  JjJ^.  ^m" 

town,  —  later  called  Cambridge  ;   within  ten  years  no  less  piorers, 

than  twenty  thousand  immigrants  landed  on  the  shores  of  341-367- 
Massachusetts.      No   movement  like  this  had  taken  place 
before  in  historic  times.     There  were  already  a  few  colo 
nists  living  on  the  shores  of  Boston  harbor.      They  were 
generally  well  treated  by  the  new  owners  of  the  soil.     One 

of    the    earlier   comers,    Thomas    Morton,    led   a   reckless  Morton  at 

life  at  Mount  Wollaston,  or  Merry  Mount  as  he  termed  it.  MenT 

His  doings  were  not  at  all  relished  by  the  Puritans.     They  Bradford  in 

repeatedly  arrested  him  and  sent  him  away.     In  revenge  Stedmanand 

he  wrote  a  book,  entitled   The  New  English   Canaan,  in  Hutchinson, 

which   he   gave   an  outsider's  view  of  Puritan  institutions  Hart's'  Con- 

and  manners.      It  seems  most  amusing  to  us;  it  was  re-  temporaries, 

garded  by  the  Puritans  as  scandalous.     Morton  also  proved  '    °' I03' 
useful  to  the  enemies  of  Massachusetts  in  England. 

61.  Problems    of    Government.  —  By    the    charter    the  The  free- 
powers  of  government  were  given  to  the  freemen  or  stock-  men  ofu 

Massachu- 

holders  of  the  corporation.     Eight  or  twelve  of  them  were   set(s   Fiske's 
in  Massachusetts  in  1630,  and    they  possessed  all    powers   New  Eng- 
of  government  in  the  colony,  including  the  right  to  elect    ™Jlo 
officers,  make  laws,  judge  offenders,  and  execute  their  own 
decisions.     Had  the  original  freemen  refused  to  admit  other 
persons  to  a  share  in  their  powers,  they  would  have  estab 
lished  an  oligarchy.     Happily,  they  decided  to  proceed  in  a 
different  spirit.     In  May,  1631,  they  admitted  to  the  com 
pany  one  hundred  and  sixteen  persons.     At  the  meeting  at 
which  this  was  done,  however,  the  rights  of  the  freemen  were 


Colonization 


[§6i 


Their  gov 
ernment  of 
the  colony. 
Winthrop's 
New  Eng 
land;  Hart's 
Contempo 
raries,  I, 
No.  107. 


greatly  lessened,  and  the  provision  was  made  that  in  the 
future  only  Puritan  church  members  could  be  admitted  to 
the  franchise.  A  few  years  later  the  freemen  became  rest 
less.  They  demanded  a  sight  of  the  charter  and  at  once 
saw  that  the  supreme  power  was  with  the  assistants  and  the 
freemen  in  the  General  Court  or  meeting  of  the  stock 
holders  of  the  company.  They  repealed  the  law  restricting 


John  Winthrop,  Governor  of  Massachusetts 

the  powers  of  the  freemen,  and  elected  Thomas  Dudley 
governor,  in  place  of  Winthrop.  To  this  latter  step  they 
had  been  provoked  by  the  declaration  of  John  Cotton,  one 
of  the  Boston  ministers,  that  a  man  could  not  be  turned  out 
of  office  so  long  as  he  discharged  his  duties  faithfully.  It  is 
interesting  to  observe  how  early  a  tendency  toward  demo 
cratic  ideas  showed  itself  in  Massachusetts. 

The  freemen  soon  found  it  inconvenient  to  exercise  their 


Attacks  on  Massachusetts 


73 


hard-won  powers  of  government :  it  was  expensive  to  travel 
to  Boston  from  the  towns  which  soon  sprang  up  all  along 
the  seacoast ;  and  it  was  dangerous  to  leave  their  families 
unprotected.  To  overcome  these  inconveniences,  they  estab 
lished  a  representative  form  of  government  by  which  the 
freemen  in  each  town  deputed  two  of  their  number  to  act 
for  them  as  a  committee  at  the  General  Court.  They  also 
established  a  system  of  voting  by  ballots  or  papers,  as  they 
called  them,  and  worked  out  a  clumsy  mode  of  nominating 
candidates  for  office. 

62.  Attacks  on  Massachusetts.  —  The  prosperity  of  the 
new  colony  aroused  the  jealousy  of  other  Englishmen  en 
gaged  in  colonial  enterprises  ;  it  awakened  the  suspicions  of 
the  English  government ;  and  it  attracted  to  Massachusetts 
many  restless  spirits. 

There  seem  to  have  been  two  parties  in  the  Council  for 
New  England  :  one  of  them  was  composed  of  Puritans, 
as  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  from  whom,  as  president,  the 
grant  of  Massachusetts  had  been  obtained ;  the  other 
faction  had  no  sympathy  whatever  with  Puritan  coloniza 
tion.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was  the  leader  of  the  latter 
group,  and  saw  with  dismay  the  sudden  prosperity  of  the 
Puritans  in  Massachusetts  and  obtained  an  order  from  the 
court  of  King's  Bench  which  was  intended  to  be  the  be 
ginning  of  the  end  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company. 
Gorges  also  secured  the  surrender  to  the  crown  of  the  New 
England  charter  and  was  himself  appointed  governor-general 
of  New  England  (1635).  Tne  outcome  was  not  what  he 
expected ;  the  vessel  which  was  to  bear  him  to  his  new 
government  was  destroyed  on  the  stocks,  and  the  Massa 
chusetts  Bay  Company  paid  no  heed  to  the  order  of  the 
king's  judges.  It  was  in  this  year  (1635)  that  the  second 
writ  for  ship  money  was  issued ;  a  monarch  who  could  not 
pay  the  expenses  of  his  court  without  raising  a  spirit  of  re 
bellion  among  his  subjects  at  home,  had  no  funds  with  which 
to  wage  war  on  far-off  Massachusetts ;  the  colonial  author 
ities,  therefore,  paid  no  attention  to  the  commands  of 


Representa 
tive  govern 
ment  estab 
lished,  1634. 


Gorges  at 
tacks  Massa 
chusetts, 
1634-38. 
*Adams's 
Three  Epi 
sodes,  1 ,  240 ; 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
111-113. 


Gardiner's 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
or  any  his 
tory  of 
England. 


74 


Colonization 


[§64 


Roger 
Williams  at 
Boston  and 
Plymouth. 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
114-116. 


Banished 
from  Massa 
chusetts. 
Dexter's 
As  to  Roger 

Williams  ; 

Straus's 

Roger 

Williams. 


Providence, 

1636. 

Greene's 

Rhode 

Island,  7-16; 

Arnold's 

Rhode 

Island. 


the  English  government.  The  "  disorders  of  the  mother 
country,"  as  Winthrop  remarked,  "  were  the  safeguard  of 
the  infant  liberties  of  New  England." 

63.  Roger  Williams.  —  Roger  Williams,  a  Puritan  min 
ister,  came  to  Massachusetts  in  1631.     He  at  once  declared 
it  to  be  wrong  for  the  colonists  to  attend  the  parish  churches 
in  England,  as  their  habit  was  when  they  went  back  to  the 
home  land  to  bring  their  families  to  the  colony  or  to  arrange 
their  business  affairs.     He  then  went  to  Plymouth,  where  his 
Separatist  views  found  a  more  sympathetic  hearing.     Before 
he   had  been  there  long,  however,  he   attacked    the  legal 
soundness  of  every  land  title  in   the  colony,  and  asserted 
that  "  King  James  had    told  a  solemn  public  lie  "   in  de 
claring  in  the  New  England  Charter  that  he  was  the  dis 
coverer  of  the  lands  therein  granted.     Williams  maintained 
that  the  settlers  should  have  bought  their  lands  of  the  Indians. 
Soon  afterwards,  he  returned  to  Massachusetts  and  became 
the   pastor  of  the   church  at  Salem.     There  again  he  and 
the  leading  men  of  the  colony  began  to  disagree.     Among 
other  things,  Williams  asserted  that  the  magistrates  had  no 
power  to  punish  offenses  against  the  Sunday  laws.     Finally, 
Williams  asked  the  other  ministers  to  labor  with  the  rulers 
to  bring  them  to  his  way  of  thinking.     The  magistrates,  on 
their  part,  ordered  Williams  to  leave  the  colony  ;  but,  as  he 
was  in  feeble   health,   they  put  off  the   day  of  his   depar 
ture  until  the  following  spring.     They  understood  that  he 
would  refrain  from  attacking  them  during  the  remainder  of 
his  stay  in  the  colony ;  but  the  disputing  began  again,  and 
they  resolved  to  send  him  to  England  in  a  ship  which  was 
about  to  sail.     Williams  heard  of  their  intentions  and  fled  to 
the  woods. 

64.  Founding    of    Providence,     1636.  —  Williams     then 
founded  the  town  of  Providence,  a  few  miles  south  of  the 
Massachusetts  line.     He  "bought  the  land"  of  the  Indians, 
as  the  phrase  was.     We  now  know  that  it  was  impossible  to 
buy  Indian  lands,  because  the  natives  had  no  idea  of  private 
ownership  of  land.     They  understood  allotment  of  land  for 


1636]       Anne  Hutchinson  and  her  Adherents  75 

a  year  for  agricultural  purposes,  and  some  such  idea  was  in 
all  probability  in  the  minds  of  the  Indian  chiefs  who  signed 
Williams's  deed  and  who  "  sold  "  land  to  Baltimore's  colo 
nists,  to  William  Penn,  and  to  the  settlers  in  Massachusetts 
where  the  grantees  from  the  company  were  obliged  to  satisfy 
the  Indian  proprietors. 

Williams  founded  his  settlement  on  the  basis  of  equality 
in  the  slate  and  freedom  in  religious  affairs.     The  religious   freed(>m- 

r        i  •  r  ^  r        i       i  i  r        i  •       Hart's  Con- 

freedom  of  Maryland  was  in  the  nature  of  tol^ption ;    in   temporaries 
Rhode  Island  it  was  held  that  the  state  had  nothing  to  do   I,  No.  115. 
with  a  man's  religion.     It  is  to  Roger  Williams  and  to  the 
settlers  of  Providence  that  the  student  must  look  for  the 
origin  of  one  of  the  most  important  principles  underlying 
the    American    form    of   government,  —  the    separation    of 
church  and  state,  which  necessarily  implies  absolute  religious 
freedom.     For  this  Williams   deserves  a  place  beside'  the 
most  prominent  statesmen  of  the  revolutionary  and  the  con 
stitutional  periods. 

The  settlers  in  the  new  colony  found  it  hard  to  understand 
the  precise  limitations  of  the  new  principle  of  government ; 
in  their  new-found  freedom,  they  did  many  things  which 
greatly  annoyed  Williams,  and  he  wrote  a  letter  explaining  Williams  ex- 
the   meaning   of  liberty.     In    this    remarkable    writing    he   Plains  re]l- 

,.,  ,  .         .  ,        rr,  gious  liberty. 

likened  a  state  to  a  ship  with  officers,  crew,  and  passengers,   Arnold's 
among  whom  were  persons  of  many  religions.     Liberty  of   Rhode 
conscience  turned  upon  these  two  hinges,  —  that  none  of  the     s  an  '  '2S4' 
ship's  company  be  forced  to  attend  the  ship's  services,  or 
prevented  from  holding  his  own  services.    The  commander  of 
the  ship,  however,  ought  to  command  the  ship's  course,  pre 
serve  order,  and  punish  according  to  their  deserts  all  who  shall 
mutiny  or  assert  that  "  there  ought  to  be  no  ...  officers,  be 
cause  all  are  equal  in  Christ,  therefore  no  masters  nor  officers, 
no  laws  nor  orders,  no  corrections  nor  punishments." 

65.    Anne  Hutchinson   and  her  Adherents.  —  Roger  Wil-   Anne  Hutch- 
liams  had  hardly  ceased  to  offend  the  Massachusetts  magis-   mson  '"  ^°?" 

&         ton.     Fiskes 

trates  ere  another  comer  appeared  to  cause  some  of  them   jyew  Eng- 
renewed  perplexity.      This  disturber  of  the  religious  calm 


76 


Colonization 


[§66 


119;  Welde's 
Short  Story  i  n 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
1,233-244; 
*Hart's   Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  108; 
Chandler's, 
Criminal 
Trials,  I, 
3-29- 


Rhode  Island 
settled,  1637. 
Greene's 
Rhode  Island, 
17-20. 


Samuel  Gor 
ton.     Fiske's 
New  Eng- 
land,  163-168. 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  113. 


was  a  gifted  woman,  by  name  Anne  Hutchinson.  Precisely 
what  the  doctrines  were  which  she  preached,  it  is  not 
possible  to  say ;  Winthrop  declared  at  the  time  that  only  a 
few  who  "  knew  the  bottom  of  the  matter  could  tell  where 
any  difference  was."  It  is  clear  enough,  however,  what  was 
at  the  bottom  of  the  magistrates'  and  ministers'  dislike  of 
Mrs.  Hutchinson :  she  set  herself  against  the  ministers. 
Many  colonists  at  first  looked  upon  her  ideas  with  favor,  and 
the  new  governor,  Henry  Vane,  fell  under  her  influence. 
Gradually,  however,  Winthrop  and  the  old  leaders  regained 

their  former  au 
thority.  Vane  de 
parted  for  England 
and  Anne  Hutch 
inson  was  banished 
with  her  followers. 
With  Williams's 
assistance  they  se- 
i  cured  the  island 

of  Aquidneck,  or 
Rhode  Island 
(1637-38). 

66.  Settlements 
on  Narragansett 
Bay.— The  Hutch 
inson  colonists 
founded  two  towns 
on  Rhode  Island, 

Sir  Henry  Vane,  Governor  of  Massachusetts  _p  . 

Portsmouth  on  the  northern  end  of  the  island,  and  Newport 
on  the  southern  end.  Each  town  managed  its  own  affairs, 
with  a  general  government  based  on  equal  representation 
of  the  two  towns  for  matters  of  general  interest.  Later, 
another  town  was  founded  on  the  mainland  by  an  eccentric 
but  sincere  person,  —  Samuel  Gorton.  He  had  no  objec 
tions  to  the  other  Puritan  colonies  on  religious  grounds,  but 
he  denied  the  legality  of  the  government  of  Plymouth  and 


1635] 


Founding  of  Connecticut 


77 


of  Portsmouth,  as  not  resting  on  royal  grants  but  on  com 
pacts  between  the  settlers.  Even  Providence  proved  to  be 
unfriendly  to  him ;  he  secured  land  on  the  western  side  of 
Narragansett  Bay  and  founded  the  town  of  Warwick.  He, 
too,  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  the  Massachusetts  author 
ities,  who  arrested  him ;  but  in  the  end,  with  the  help  of 
the  Puritan  leaders  in  England,  he  was  reinstated  in  his 
hamlet.  In  1643  Roger  Williams  obtained  from  the  Com 
missioners  of  Plantations,  appointed  by  the  Long  Parliament, 
a  patent  known  as  the  Incorporation  of  Providence  Planta 
tions.  This  instrument  permitted  the  towns  on  Narragansett 
Bay  to  form  a  federal  union,  if  they  so  desired ;  but  no  use 
was  made  of  this  permission  until  1647. 

67.  Founding  of  Connecticut,  1635-40. — Entirely  unlike 
the  feeble  bands  of  colonists  who  settled  the  Narragansett 
towns  were  the  numerous  and  well-equipped  settlers  who 
founded  Connecticut  The  former  had  been  banished  from 
Massachusetts ;  the  latter  left  that  colony  owing  to  their 
dislike  of  the  narrow  spirit  displayed  by  those  who  were  in 
control  of  the  government.  Probably  they  also  saw  oppor 
tunities  for  material  prosperity  in  the  fertile  Connecticut 
valley.  At  all  events,  in  1635  and  1636  the  inhabitants  of 
Newtown,  with  many  of  those  of  Watertown  and  Dorchester, 
founded  three  towns  on  the  Connecticut  River,  which  after 
wards  came  to  be  called  Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Wethers- 
field.  Two  Puritan  noblemen,  Lord  Brooke  and  Lord  Saye 
and  Sele,  had  obtained  from  the  Council  for  New  England 
a  grant  of  this  region.  In  1635  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  son  of 
the  governor  of  the  Bay  colony,  acting  as  their  agent,  built 
a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River,  which  he 
named  Saybrook  in  their  honor.  It  was  scarcely  more  than 
a  military  post,  but  it  was  sufficient  to  maintain  the  control 
of  the  river  for  the  English.  These  settlements  were  hardly 
made  before  a  dangerous  Indian  war  broke  out  with  the 
Pequods.  The  campaign,  which  resulted  in  the  extinction 
of  the  tribe,  was  conducted  by  Captain  John  Mason  and  his 
soldiers  with  wonderful  skill.  Those  who  wish  to  see  the 


Providence 
Plantations, 
1647. 
Greene's 
Rhode  Is  land, 

23-27 ; 

Arnold's 
Rhode  Island. 


Connecticut, 

I635-37- 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
123-128 ; 
Walker's 
Thomas 
Hooker 
(M.A.). 


The  Pequod 
War.  Fiske's 
New  Eng 
land,  129- 
134;  Sted- 
man  and 
Hutchinson, 
I,  176-189. 


Colonization 


Connecticut 
Constitu 
tion,  1638- 
39.     Hart's 
Contempora 
ries,  I,  120; 
Old  South 
Leaflets,  Gen. 
Ser.,  No.  8. 


Connecticut 
boundaries. 
Hinsdale's 
Old  North 
west,  87. 


Reasons  for 

founding 

New  Haven, 

1638. 

Fiske's  New 

England, 

135- 


Puritan  soldier  at  his  work  in  the  forest  should  read  Mason's 
account  of  this  exploit  and  the  glowing  narrative  of  his  vigor 
ous  supporter  from  Massachusetts,  Captain  John  Underhill. 

68.  Connecticut  Orders  of  1638-39. — The  early  history 
of  Connecticut  is  important  from  a  constitutional  point  of 
view.     In  the  winter  of  1638-39  the  heads  of  families  of 
the    three    towns    of  Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Wethersfield 
met  together  and  drew  up  a  fundamental  law,  the  Orders 
of  1638-39,  which  Bryce,  an  English  writer  on  American 
politics,  calls  the  "  first  truly  political  written  constitution  in 
history."      The  government    established  closely  resembled 
that  in  operation  in  Massachusetts,  with  the  important  ex 
ception  that  there  was  no  religious  qualification. 

69.  Extent  of  Connecticut.  —  In  the  end  the  Connecticut 
colonists  secured  the  rights  as  to  land  which  Lord  Saye  and 
Sele  and  Lord  Brooke  had  received  from  the  Council  for 
New  England.     This  grant  was  limited  on  the  east  by  the 
"  Narragansett  River,"  a  stream  which  proved  to  have  no 
existence.     On  this  point  a  bitter  contest  arose  with  Rhode 
Island,  which  was  finally  decided  by  the  English  authorities 
against  Connecticut ;    in   this  way  the   Pawcatuck,  a  river 
which  nowhere  approaches  Narragansett  Bay,  became  the 
eastern  boundary  of  Connecticut.     The  western  boundary 
of  the  latter  colony  under  the  grant  above  mentioned  was 
the  South  Sea  ;  but  all  attempts  of  Connecticut  men  to  settle 
in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  aroused  fierce  opposition. 

70.  New  Haven,  1638.  —  The  settlement  of  New  Haven 
was  due  to  the  energy  and  ability  of  two  men,  — John  Dav 
enport  and  Theophilus  Eaton.     The  former  was  a  Puritan 
minister,  the  latter  a  prosperous  merchant  of  London  and 
one   of  Davenport's   principal    parishioners.      Silenced  by 
Laud,  Davenport  interested  Eaton  in  a  scheme  of  coloniza 
tion,  and  the  two  determined  to  found  a  colony  where  they 
could  try  an  experiment  in  government  on  their  own  lines, 
as  the    Massachusetts  people   were   trying  one    on   theirs. 
They  soon  gathered  a  large  band  of  colonists  and  founded 
the  colony  of  New  Haven  (1638).     In  the  government  of 


1641]       The  United  Colonies  of  New  England        79 

their  settlement  only  church  members  had  any  share,  and 
great  care  was  taken  as  to  the  admission  of  persons  to  church 
membership.  Other  churches  and  towns  were  soon  founded 
in  the  vicinity  and  entered  into  confederation  with  New 
Haven ;  but  the  early  career  of  New  Haven  was  not  fortu 
nate.  At  length,  in  1662,  it  was  absorbed  by  the  stronger 
colony  of  Connecticut. 

71.  The  First  New  England  Code  of  Laws,  1641.  —  Dur-   Formation 

insr  the  period  of  contest  with  the  English  government  on   °fthe"B°dy 

of  Liberties." 
the  one  hand,  and  with  discontented  persons  in  the  colony 

on  the  other,  the  freemen  of  Massachusetts  had  constantly 
pressed  for  the  publication  of  a  code  of  laws.  Until  this 
was  done,  the  magistrates  enjoyed  great  freedom  in  apply 
ing  the  general  rules  of  the  English  common  law  and  the 
precepts  and  commandments  set  forth  in  the  Bible.  No 
man  could  be  certain  whether  he  were  committing  ah 
offense  or  not.  The  magistrates  opposed  the  making  of  the 
code,  because  as  things  were  they  exercised  great  power; 
they  also  feared  lest  the  publication  of  the  laws  might  give 
their  enemies  in  England  some  ground  on  which  to  base  a 
successful  prosecution  of  the  company.  For  years  the  de-  The  "  Body 
mand  of  the  freemen  was  put  off  by  the  expedient  of  refer-  of  Liberties." 

,  ....  ,        ™,         American 

ring  the  matter  to  committees  which  never  reported.     The  History  Leaf- 

meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament  changed  the  whole  aspect  lets,  No.  25, 

of  affairs  ;  the  magistrates  gave  way,  and  a  code  was  drawn  $|  *.«.  18,43, 
up  (1641).     It  was  not  printed  at  the  time,  but  a  manuscript 
copy  has  been  preserved  and  reproduced  in  facsimile. 

72.  The  United  Colonies  of  New  England,  1643.  —  Mean-  Formation  of 
time   other   settlements  had  been  formed  along   the    New  ^ New 
England  coast,  in  Maine  and  on  the  shores  and  rivers  of  confedera- 
New  Hampshire.     There  were  constant  disputes  as  to  juris-  tion,  1643. 
diction   between  these   colonies    and   Massachusetts  which  Fiske's  A/^w 

England, 

frequently  used  her  power  to  enforce  her  own  views  to  the   153-161. 
disregard  of  the  rights  of  others. 

In  1643  tne  f°ur  colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  New 
Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven  entered  into  a 
league  "  for  mutual  help  and  strength  in  all  our  future  con- 


8o 


Colonization 


[§73 


Reasons  for 
union. 
American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  7. 


Rhode 
Island  and 
Maine  not 
admitted. 


cernements."  The  English  government  was  now  engaged 
in  a  deadly  contest  with  the  Puritans ;  it  could  no  longer 
protect  the  American  colonists,  nor  could  it  protest  effec 
tually  against  any  measures  they  might  see  fit  to  adopt. 
The  New  Englanders  were  surrounded  by  enemies :  the 
Dutch  on  the  west,  the  French  on  the  north,  and  the  Indians 
all  along  the  land  frontier.  The  distance  between  the 
settlements  on  Massachusetts  Bay  and  those  on  the  Con 
necticut  River  prevented  the  formation  of  a  general  govern 
ment,  and  some  form  of  confederation,  or  "  consociation  " 
as  they  termed  it,  was  the  only  way  out  of  the  difficulty. 
Neither  the  Rhode  Islanders  nor  the  settlers  in  Maine  were 
invited  to  join  in  this  association.  "Concerning  the 
Islanders,"  wrote  Brevvster  of  Plymouth,  "we  have  no 
conversing  with  them  further  than  necessity  or  humanity 
may  require."  As  to  the  dwellers  on  the  Maine  seacoast, 
.^^~  s^~  f)  Jonn  Winthrop  of  Mas- 

^-~"  I    v)x  ^  *  T+^»jt—*M)lj   sachusetts  wrote  : 
\yU  -   \\J7sT/t—SJ/l/Lf*  Tw 

X  /^~   ran    a    different 

^  — "^  from    us 


both 


Analysis  of 
Articles  of 
Confedera 
tion  .    Ameri 
can  History 
Leaflets, 
No.  7. 


course 
in    their 

ministry  and  in  their  civil  administration ;  for  they  had 
lately  made  Acomenticus  (a  poor  village)  a  corporation, 
and  had  made  a  tailor  their  mayor,  and  had  entertained 
one  Hull,  an  excommunicated  person  and  very  contentious 
for  their  minister."  These  two  extracts  show  very  clearly 
the  light  in  which  the  colonists  of  Rhode  Island  and  Maine 
were  regarded  by  their  fellow  English  settlers ;  plainly  they 
would  not  have  been  acceptable  in  the  "  consociation." 

73.  Articles  of  Confederation. — The  Articles  should  be 
studied  in  the  original;  a  few  points  only  will  be  noted 
here.  The  federal  bond  was  of  the  loosest  description,  as 
each  colony  retained  its  "  peculiar  jurisdiction  "  (Arts,  iii 
and  viii).  Each  colony  sent  two  representatives  or  com 
missioners  to  the  meetings  of  the  Confederation ;  this 
provision  was  most  unfair  to  Massachusetts,  as  contributions 
in  men  and  money  were  based  on  the  fighting  strength  of 
the  several  colonies.  It  was  not  long  (1653)  before  she 


1643]  Articles  of  Confederation  8 1 

refused  to  be  bound  by  the  votes  of  the  commissioners  of 
the  other  confederated  colonies  and  to  take  part  in  an 
Indian  war ;  the  Massachusetts  magistrates  voted  that  they 
"  did  not  see  sufficient  ground  .  .  .  and  therefore  dare  not 
exercise  our  authority  to  levy  force  within  our  jurisdiction." 
This  is  the  first  nullifying  ordinance  in  American  history ; 
but  Massachusetts  acted  on  other  occasions  in  an  equally 
high-handed  manner.  The  commissioners  possessed  ex 
tensive  functions  on  paper  (Arts,  vi  and  viii),  and,  when  all 
the  colonies  were  agreed,  exercised  more  power  than"  any 
other  body  of  men  then  in  America.  The  Articles  also 
contain  (Art.  viii)  a  provision  for  the  return  of  fugitive 
servants  and  escaped  criminals,  which  is  generally  regarded 
as  the  precedent  for  the  fugitive  slave  laws  of  a  later  time. 
A  species  of  court  to  settle  disputes  between  members  of 
the  Confederation  was  also  provided  (Art.  xi).  The  Con 
federation  was  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  all  the  New 
England  colonies,  and  not  merely  to  its  members ;  it  gave  a 
weight  to  their  dealings  with  the  Dutch  and  the  Indians 
which  no  single  colony  could  have  had ;  and  it  carried  the 
New  England  colonies  through  the  most  dangerous  Indian 
conflict  of  colonial  times,  —  King  Philip's  War. 

It   must  not    be   supposed   that    the   independent   spirit   independent 
which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Confederation  was  in  any   sPiritofthe 

New  Kng- 

way  lessened  by  the  success  of  their  Puritan  friends  in  Eng-  landers, 
land.  On  the  contrary,  the  New  Englanders  used  the 
Puritan  triumph  in  England  to  forward  plans  for  the  self- 
government  of  New  England.  In  1643  tne  Massachusetts 
General  Court  voted  to  omit  the  words  "You  shall  bear 
true  faith  and  allegiance  to  our  sovereign  lord  King  Charles  " 
from  the  magistrate's  oath  and  did  not  insert  a  new  form 
of  words  acknowledging  allegiance  to  the  Long  Parliament. 
Ai  about  the  same  time,  some  of  the  leading  Puritans  in 
England  suggested  that  any  legislation  which  Massachusetts 
desired  would  be  enacted  by  Parliament;  but  Winthrop 
declined  the  offer  "lest  in  ...  after  times  .  .  .  hostile 
forces  might  be  in  control,  and  meantime  a  precedent 


82 


Colonization 


[§74 


Dutch  dis 
coveries, 
Hudson's 
voyage. 
Winsor's 
America  ; 
Gay's  Popu 
lar  History, 
I,  ch.  xiii; 
Higginson's 
Explorers, 
281-296 ; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  38. 


Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  39. 


would  have  been  established."  Thus,  more  than  a  century 
before  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  we  find  the  leading 
men  in  Massachusetts  denying  the  legislative  authority  of 
Parliament  over  the  colony.  During  the  period  of  the 
Commonwealth,  Massachusetts  paid  no  attention  to  the 
Navigation  Ordinances ;  she  did  not  proclaim  Cromwell 
and  declined  to  recognize  Richard  as  Protector,  although 
asked  so  to  do.  The  Confederation,  also,  maintained  the 
attitude  of  an  independent  state  towards  the  French  and 
the  Dutch. 

74.  The  Dutch  Settlements.  —  In  the  first  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  Dutch  were  foremost  amongst  the 
commercial  nations  of  the  world.  The  Dutch  East  India 
Company  was  the  most  successful  corporation  of  its  kind 
in  existence.  On  the  decline  of  the  Spanish  sea  power, 
the  enterprising  Netherlanders,  in  common  with  the  French 
and  the  English,  turned  their  attention  to  American  ex 
ploration.  In  1609  Henry  Hudson,  an  English  seaman  in 
the  employ  of  Dutch  merchants,  sailed  across  the  Atlantic 
in  search  of  the  straits  leading  to  India,  which  were  thought 
to  be  somewhere  north  of  the  Chesapeake.  He  first  sighted 
the  coast  of  Maine,  and  then  sailing  southward,  reached  the 
capes  of  the  Chesapeake.  Turning  northward,  he  entered 
what  is  now  New  York  harbor.  Boldly  sailing  up  the  river, 
which  now  bears  his  name,  he  navigated  his  vessel  as  far 
as  Albany.  While  in  the  river  he  received  several  parties  of 
Indians  with  great  kindness,  offering  them  spirits  to  drink, 
after  the  manner  of  the  day.  At  almost  the  same  time 
Champlain  was  not  a  hundred  miles  away,  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Champlain.  He  also  met  Indians  and  killed  several 
of  them.  It  happened  that  the  natives  entertained  by  Hud 
son  and  warred  on  by  Champlain  belonged  to  the  League 
of  the  Iroquois,  the  strongest  and  most  important  Indian 
power  in  America.  They  never  forgot  their  early  hatred 
of  the  French,  and  always  maintained  the  most  friendly  re 
lations  with  the  Dutch  and  their  English  successors,  who  in 
their  turn  treated  them  with  justice. 


1643]  Kieft  and  Stuyvesant  83 

Following  on    Hudson's   voyage,  the    Dutch    established   Dutch  trad- 
trading  posts  on  the  Hudson  River  :  the  most  important  one   RJ^Jg' 
was  Fort  Amsterdam,  on  Manhattan  Island;    another  was   jyew  York,lt 
Fort  Orange,  on  the  site  of  the  Albany  of  the  present  day.   ch-  "i- 
Dutch  captains    sailed  along  the  coast  eastward  as  far   as 
Boston  harbor  and  southward  to  Delaware  Bay  and  River. 
In  1621   the  Dutch  West  India  Company  was  established; 
it  had  exclusive  rights  as  to  trade  in  lands   bordering   on 
the  Atlantic  —  so  far,  of  course,  as  the   Dutch  authorities 
could  confer  such  rights.     These    early  Dutch  settlements 
were  for  the  purposes  of  trade;  it  was  not  until  1623  that 
the  first  colonists  came  over. 

New  Netherland  did  not    attract  settlers,  and,  in   1629,   Thepatroon- 
the    Dutch  West    India    Company  attempted  to    stimulate   shiPs- 
colonization  by  the   establishment   of  patroonships.      This 
arrangement  was  embodied  in  a  document  called  the  Char 
ter  of  Privileges  to  Patroons ;  its  principal  provisions  were 
that  any  member  of  the  company  who  should  transport,  at 
his  own  expense,  fifty  colonists  to  New  Netherland,  should 
be  entitled  to  a  grant  of  land  extending  sixteen  miles  along 
one  side  of  the  river,  or  eight  miles  on  both  sides,  if  that 
were  preferred. 

Each  of  these  large  grants  was  styled  a  patroonship,  and 
the  owner,  or  patroon,  enjoyed  extensive  rights  within  its 
limits,  subject,  in  important  matters,  to  appeal  to  the  com 
pany's  representative  at  New  Amsterdam.  No  sooner  was 
the  plan  determined  upon  than  the  more  enterprising  direc 
tors  sent  out  agents  to  seize  the  best  lands.  The  most  suc 
cessful  of  these  was  Kiliaen  van  Rensselaer,  a  rich  diamond 
merchant  of  Amsterdam,  who  acquired  the  region  around 
Fort  Nassau,  or  Orange.  Subsequently,  the  system  was 
modified  to  extend  the  rights  of  patroons  to  less  important 
men,  and,  in  1639,  tne  trade  of  the  colony  was  thrown  open 
to  all  comers,  and  land  was  granted  in  small  quantities  on 
payment  of  an  annual  rent. 

75.  Kieft  and  Stuyvesant.  —  In  1643-44,  owing  to  the 
wretched  mismanagement  of  Kieft,  the  governor,  the  colony 


84 


Colonization 


[§76 


Kieft  and 
Stuyvesant. 
Roherts's 
New  York, 
I,  chs.  iv,  v; 
Tuckerman's 
Stuyvesant ; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  154- 


Swedish 
settlements. 
Roberts's 
New  York, 
I,  ch.  vii. 


became  involved  in  a  serious  conflict  with  the  Indians  who 
lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Manhattan  Island ;  the  colony  was 
nearly  ruined  and  Kieft  was  recalled.  He  was  replaced  by 
Stuyvesant,  an  able  and  energetic  soldier,  who  had  lost  a 
leg  in  the  company's  service.  Stuyvesant's  administration 
was  very  despotic,  as  was  that  of  all  the  Dutch  governors. 
The  people  of  New  Amsterdam  gained  a  few  privileges  of 
self-government  in  1652,  but  Stuyvesant  was  able  to  deprive 
these  concessions  of  nearly  all  their  value.  In  his  dealings 
with  the  neighboring  English  colonies,  he  was  not  so  suc 
cessful.  The  Dutch  claimed  as  far  east  as  the  Connecticut 
River,  which  had  been  discovered  by  one  of  their  naviga 
tors  ;  but  the  Confederation  of  New  England  was  too  pow 
erful  for  Stuyvesant ;  he  was  obliged  to  give  way  and  to 
acknowledge  the  rights  of  the  English  settlers.  With  the 
Swedes  on  the  Delaware  he  was  more  fortunate.  Attracted 
by  the  advantages  it  offered,  many  Englishmen  emigrated  to 
New  Netherland.  Among  them  were  some  of  the  most 
important  men  of  the  Dutch  colony.  They  taught  their 
new  associates  the  English  hostility  towards  arbitrary  rule, 
and  the  fall  of  New  Netherland  in  1664  seems  to  have  been 
hailed  with  satisfaction  by  nearly  all  its  inhabitants. 

76.  The  Swedes  on  the  Delaware. — The  Swedish  settle 
ments  had  their  rise  in  the  desire  of  Sweden's  greatest  king 
and  one  of  Europe's  greatest  men,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  to 
establish  a  colonial  empire.  It  was  not  until  after  his  death, 
however,  that  a  beginning  was  made  by  the  formation  of  a 
Swedish  company,  on  the  model  of  the  Dutch  and  the  English 
trading  corporations.  The  new  colony  was  planted  on  the 
southwestern  side  of  Delaware  Bay,  on  ground  claimed  by 
the  Dutch.  At  the  moment  the  Swedes  were  the  foremost 
military  power  in  Europe.  The  Netherlanders  were  practi 
cally  under  their  protection,  and  could  hardly  refuse  a  few 
square  miles  of  unoccupied  land  in  America  to  such  a  neces 
sary  ally  in  Europe.  In  1648  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  put 
an  end  to  this  state  of  affairs  :  the  independence  of  the 
Netherlands  was  acknowledged  by  all  the  important  powers ; 


1660]  Summary  85 

there  was  no  longer  any  necessity  of  dealing  gently  with  the 
Swedish  intruders;  the  Swedish  colonists  were  conquered 
by  Stuyvesant,  and  their  territory  again  added  to  New 
Netherland  (1656). 

77.  Summary.  —  In  1660  the  Puritan  supremacy  sud-  The  colonies 
denly  came  to  an  end  :  Charles  the  Second  was  restored  to  m  l66o> 
the  throne  occupied  by  his  father,  and  a  new  page  was 
opened  in  the  history  of  England  and  of  America.  After 
the  sixty  years  of  colonizing  activity  described  in  this  chap 
ter,  there  were. in  North  America  the  French  settlers  in  the 
north,  few  in  point  of  numbers  but  formidable  on  account 
of  their  organization  and  because  of  their  influence  with  the 
natives  —  excepting  the  members  of  the  League  of  the  Iro- 
quois.  In  the  south,  the  Spaniards  still  maintained  a  feeble 
colony  in  Florida,  at  St.  Augustine,  and  there  were  a  few 
Spaniards  in  the  southwest.  On  the  seaboard  of  what  is 
now  the  Middle  States  the  Dutch  were  supreme.  Between 
the  Spaniards  and  the  Dutch,  and  between  the  Dutch  and 
the  French,  were  English  colonists.  They  occupied  no 
great  extent  of  territory,  but  they  were  more  permanently 
fixed  to  the  soil  than  were  the  French,  the  Dutch,  or  the 
Spaniards.  They  had  established  English  home  life  and 
English  institutions  in  their  wilderness  homes ;  and  they 
were  practically  self-governing. 

SUGGESTIVE   QUESTIONS   AND  TOPICS 

§  35.  FRENCH  COLONIZATION 

a.  Give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  career  of  Henry  IV  of  France. 

b.  What  further  facts  can  you  ascertain  about  Champlain  ? 

§  36.   REVIVAL  OF  ENGLISH  ENTERPRISE 

a.  Give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  reigns  of  the  Tudors. 

b.  Have  the  voyages  of  Gosnold,  Pring,  and  Weymouth  any  real 
importance  in  American  history  ?     Why? 

§§  37-46.   VIRGINIA 

a.   Give  a  connected  account  of  the  Plymouth  Company  ;    of  the 
London  Company. 


8  6  Colon  iza  tion 

l>.  Place  as  headings  in  note-book,  "  Slavery,"  "  Representative  In 
stitutions,"  "  Limited  Power  of  Congress,"  and  enter  under  them  all 
fitting  matter  as  you  proceed. 

c.  Make  a  brief  digest  of  English  history,   1600-60,  and  place  in 
parallel  columns  leading  events  in  American  history. 

d.  Compare  conduct  of  Virginia  and  of  Massachusetts  during  Puritan 
supremacy.     Give  causes  of  difference. 

§§  47-50.   MARYLAND 

a.  What  events  of  vital  importance  in  American   history  are  con 
nected  with  Maryland's  western  and  southern  boundaries  ? 

b.  What  matter  in  these  sections  must  you  enter  in  your  note-book 
under  "  Representative  Institutions"?     What  under  "Power  of  Con 
gress  "  ? 

c.  In  Congress  where  does  the  right  of  initiative  belong  ?    Where  in 
the  legislature  of  you  rown  state?     Where  in  the  British  Parliament? 

d.  Does  the  word  "  toleration  "  prove  that  absolute  religious  freedom 
did  not  exist?     Give  your  reasons. 

§§  51-57.   PURITANS  AND  PILGRIMS 

a.  Puritans,  Nonconformists,  and  Separatists  :  carefully  define  and 
explain. 

b.  What  is  a  "  pure  democracy  "  ?     Does  any  such  exist  at  the  pres 
ent  time? 

c.  The  "  Pilgrim  Compact  "  ;   its  formation  and  provisions. 

d.  Trace  at  length  the  history  of  Plymouth  to  1643. 


MASSACHUSETTS  BAY 

a.  Describe  the  struggle  between  the  aristocratic    and   the   demo 
cratic  elements  in  Massachusetts. 

b.  Was  John  Cotton's  declaration  identical  with  the  principle  em 
bodied  in  the  present  Civil  Service  Law?     Give  your  reasons. 

c.  What   in  these   sections   will   you  note    under   "  Representative 
Institutions  "  ? 

d.  Do  you  blame  the  Massachusetts  authorities  for  expelling  Roger 
Williams  or  Mrs.  Hutchinson  ?     Were  the  two  cases  parallel  ? 

§§  64-66.   RHODE  ISLAND 

a.  Roger  Williams's   place    in    history.     Turn    to    passages   in   the 
Constitution  which  relate  to  this  matter.     How  is  it  arranged  in  the 
constitution  of  your  state  ? 

b.  Give  Roger  Williams's  explanation  of  "liberty  of  conscience"; 
of  civil  liberty. 


Questions  and  Topics  87 

§§  67-70.   CONNECTICUT 

a.  What  spirit  prompted  the  settlement  of  Connecticut?   of  New 
Haven  ? 

b.  Why  did  not  Massachusetts  need  to  draw  up  a  written  constitu 
tion? 

c.  Compare  carefully  the  reason  for  the  founding  of  Massachusetts, 
of  the  first  Connecticut  towns,  of  New  Haven.     What  essential  differ 
ences  can  you  discern  ?     What  common  elements  ? 

§  71.   THE  BODY  OF  LIBERTIES 

a.  Were  the  English  people  accustomed  to  a  written  code  of  law? 

b.  Look   up  some    brief  analysis  of  Magna   Charta  (e.g.  Taswell- 
Langmead),  and  compare  it  with  the  Body  of  Liberties. 

c.  Turn  to  Constitution  and  find  passages  which  relate  to  matters  in 
sections  of  the  Body  of  Liberties  noted  on  margin  of  p.  79.     Do  the 
same  with  the  constitution  of  your  state. 

§§  72,  73.  THE  UNITED  COLONIES  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

a.  Were  taxation  and  representation  on  the  same  basis  in  the  New 
England  confederation  ? 

b.  Place   in   note-book    as    headings  :    "  Nullification,"    "  Fugitive 
Slave  Laws,"  "  Colonial   Denials  of  Supremacy  of  Parliament,"  and 
enter  all  fitting  matter  as  you  proceed. 

§§  74-76.  THE  DUTCH  AND  THE  SWEDES 

a.  Give  a  brief  sketch  of  history  of  Holland  to  1648,  and  add  a 
briefer  sketch  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

b.  Consider  at   length   how  the  fortunes  of  the  world  might  have 
been  changed  had  Champlain  treated  the  Iroquois  kindly. 

c.  Do  we  owe  any  distinctive  elements  of  our  national  progress  to 
the  Dutch  settlers  ?     Prove  your  statement. 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

a.  Represent  in  colors  upon  an  Outline  Map  (i)  the  details  of  the 
Virginia  charters    (1606,    1609)  ;    (2)    the    boundaries    of   Maryland 
(1632)  ;    (3)  the  boundaries  of  New  England  (1620). 

b.  Represent  in  colors  upon  an  Outline  Map  the  boundaries  of  the 
New   England    colonies;     Massachusetts    (1629);    New   Netherland 
(1660). 

c.  Make  any  necessary  changes  in  the  map  of  your  own  state. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.    What  matter  in  this  chapter  must  you  enter  in  note-book  under 
"  Representative  Institutions"  ?     What  under  "  Power  of  Congress"  ? 


88  Colonization 

b.  Pick  out  all  statements  in  this  chapter  which  illustrate  the  charac 
ter  and  the  spirit  of  the  colonists  of  Virginia,  of  Maryland,  of  Plymouth, 
of  Massachusetts,  of  Rhode  Island,  of  Connecticut,  of  New  Haven,  and 
of  New  Netherland.     Put  them  side  by  side  and  state  the  results  of 
your  comparison. 

c.  How  many   examples  of  federation    does   this   chapter   affordj* 
State  and  compare. 

d.  Give  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  colonies  in  1660. 

e.  Make  list  of  principal  men  in  chapter,  with  dates  ;   state  under 
each  man's  name  what  he  did. 

f.  Make  a  brief  conspectus  of  all  charters,  showing   (i)   to  whom 
granted,  (2)  purpose  of  grantee,  (3)  extent  of  land  granted,  (4)  where 
governing  power  resided,  (5)  fortunes  of  charter. 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 
See  directions  under  this  head  on  p.  48. 

a.  The  founding  of  Jamestown  (53,  last  group  except  Winsor,  and 
top  54). 

b.  The  first  American  Assembly  (56,  last  group). 

c.  Why  did  the  Pilgrims  come  to  America  (65,  first  group)  ? 

d.  The   Pilgrims,  November-December,   1620  (65,  last  group,  and 
67,  last  one  of  second  group). 

e.  The  trial  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  (76,  first  group). 

f.  The  voyage  of  Henry  Hudson,  1609  (82,  first  group). 


CHAPTER    III 

A   CENTURY   OF   COLONIAL   HISTORY,    1660-1760 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Higginson's  Larger  History,  169-191,  203- 
223;  Thwaites's  Colonies,  50-61,  76-81,  196,  220;  Hart's  Formation 
of  the  Union,  2-41;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era  ;  Sloane's  French  War  and 
the  Revolution;  Lodge's  English  Colonies ;  Hinsdale's  Old  Northwest, 
chs.  iii  and  iv;  Fiske's  Civil  Government,  152-158. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Gay's  Bryanfs  Popular  History;  *Winsor's 
America,  Memorial  History  of  Boston  and  Car  tier  to  Frontenac  ;  *Hil- 
dreth's  United  States;  the  state  histories  mentioned  on  page  49  and 
Egle's  Illustrated  History  of  Pennsylvania ;  *Jones's  Georgia;  Wil 
son's  Memorial  History  of  New  York  (city);  *Janney's  Life  of  Penn ; 
Larned's  History  for  Ready  Reference.  On  French  exploration  and 
colonization:  Parkman's  Jesuits,  Pioneers,  and  La  Salle ;  Bourinot's 
Canada  ;  Maurice  Thompson's  Story  of  I  ouisiana  ;  Grace  King's  New 
Orleans.  For  the  expulsion  of  the  French,  see:  Parkman's  Half  Cen 
tury  of  Conflict,  Montcalin  and  Wolfe,  and  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac ; 
Irving's  Life  of  Washington  (abridged  ed.);  *Dunn's  Indiana  ;  *Hib- 
berd's  Wisconsin. 

Sources.  —  Chandler's  Criminal  Trials;  Hutchinson's  Massachu 
setts;  Washington's  Autobiography  ;  Franklin's  Autobiography  ;  Amer 
ican  History  Leaflets  ;  Old  South  Leaflets  ;  Stedman  and  Hutchinson's 
Library  of  American  Literature  ;  *Hart's  Contemporaries. 

Maps.  —  Hart's  Epoch  Maps,  Nos.  3,  4;  Mac  Coun's  Historical 
Geography  ;  Winsor's  America  and  Mississippi  Basin. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§  56  b  (General  Readings)  ;  §§  102,  103,  105-108,  125-132  (Topics  and 
References);  §  23  (State  and  Local  Histories);  §  25  (Biographies); 
§  29  (Colonial  Records);  §§  32,  33  (Writings  and  Autobiographies  of 
Statesmen). 

Illustrative  Material.  — *  Wendell's  Cotton  Mather  (M.  A.); 
Mason's  Robert  Cavelier  (M.  A.);  Page's  Thomas  Nelson  (M.  A.); 
*Hallowell's  Quaker  Invasion  of  Massachusetts  ;  Irving's  Washington; 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§79 


Lodge's  Washington  (S.  S.1)  ;  biographies  of  Franklin,  Samuel  Adams, 
Oglethorpe,  and  others,  see  Guide,  §§  25,  32,  33.  Lowell's  Among  My 
Books  ("  Witchcraft ")  ;  Longfellow's  New  England  Tragedies  and 
Evangeline ;  Whittier's  Pennsylvania  Pilgrims,  and  Witch  of  Wen- 
ham ;  Irving's  Knickerbocker's  History  ;  Bynner's  Begum's  Daughter  ; 
Seton's  Charter  Oak  ;  Cooke's  Stories  of  the  Old  Dominion  ;  Caruthers's 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe  ;  Cooper's  Satanstoe,  Waterwitch,  Red 
Rover,  and  Leather  Stocking  Tales  ;  King's  Monsieur  Motte  ;  Simms's 
Cassique  of  Kiaway  ;  Catherwood's  The  Lady  of  Fort  St.  John. 


Clarendon 
and  his 
colonial 
policy. 


The  Naviga 
tion  Acts. 
Winsor's 
America,  VI, 
5-10. 
American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  19 

George  Fox 
and  the 
Society  of 
Friends. 


A  CENTURY   OF  COLONIAL   HISTORY,    1660-1760 

78.  The   New   Era  in  Colonization. — Charles  II  was  re 
stored  to  the  English  throne  in  1660;  his  leading  adviser 
was  Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon.    They  found  much  to  con 
demn  in  the  existing  state  of  affairs  in  the  colonies.     The 
Puritans  in  New  England,  for  example,  seemed  to  look  upon 
themselves  as  almost  independent  of  England,  and  the  peo 
ple  of  no  colony  paid  much  attention  to  the  commercial 
regulations  which  Parliament  had  laid  down  in  the  time  of 
the  Puritan  supremacy  in  England.     The  first  thing  to  do 
was  to  revive  the  navigation  laws  and  then  to  enforce  the 
royal  authority  in  America.     The  First  Navigation  Act  which 
was  passed  in  1660  provided  that  certain  goods  should  be 
carried  from  the   colonies  direct  to  England;    these  were 
enumerated  in  the  act,  and  hence  were  called  the  "  enumer 
ated  goods  "  ;  among  them  was  tobacco.     This  policy  was 
developed  as  time  went  on ;  but  the   colonists  constantly 
disobeyed  these  laws  except  those  which  limited  the  com 
merce  of  the  empire  to  vessels  owned  and  manned  by  the 
subjects  of  the  English  king,  among  whom,  of  course,  were 
the  colonists. 

79.  The   Puritans   and   the   Quakers.  —  In    the   Puritan 
time  in  England  many  new  sects  arose,   among  them  the 
Society  of  Friends  or  Quakers.     Their  founder  was  George 
Fox,  a  man  of  logical  mind,  who  could  express  his  ideas  in 
language  which  plain  men  and  women  could  understand. 


1  "American  Statesmen  "  series,  and  so  throughout  these  lists 


i656] 


The  Puritans  and  the  Quakers 


Among  other  things,  he  taught  that  God  still  appears  to  men 
and  women  and  reveals  to  them  his  will.  As  between  man 
and  man,  Fox  held  to  extreme  democratic  views,  based  on 
a  literal  reading  of  the  Bible.  To  him  all  men  were  equal ; 
tokens  of  respect  were  due  to  no  man,  but  to  God  alone. 
The  Quakers,  therefore,  refused  to  address  those  in  author 
ity  by  their  ordinary  titles,  as  "  Your  Honor,"  etc.  They 
also  refused  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance,  or  to  swear  to 
speak  the  truth  in  court,  because  the  Bible  commanded  men 
to  "  swear  not  at  all."  It  happened  that  the  Puritans  were 
very  firm  in  their  ideas  on  two  of  the  points  mentioned 
above  :  they  believed  that  with  the  writing  of  the  Bible  the 
period  of  revelation  had  come  to  an  end,  and  they  demanded 
that  those  in  authority  should  be  treated  with  the  utmost 
respect.  The  first  Quakers  appeared  in  Massachusetts  in 
1656;  they  addressed  the  magistrates  as  "hirelings,  baals 
[priests  of  Baal],  and  seed  of  the  serpent,"  and  threw  down 
a  challenge  which  the  magistrates  were  not  slow  to  take  up. 
They  put  the  Quakers  into  prison  for  safe  keeping  until  the 
vessel  which"  brought  them  over  was  ready  to  sail  on  its 
return  voyage.  The  Quakers  next  came  overland  by  way 
of  Rhode  Island,  where  they  were  cordially  received  and 
sheltered.  The  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies 
(p.  79)  now  took  the  matter  in  hand  and  advised  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Confederation  to  pass  laws  providing  banish 
ment,  under  pain  of  death  in  case  of  return.  In  this  they 
were  merely  following  English  examples,  as  it  was  in  this  way 
that  Parliament  had  repeatedly  dealt  with  persons  of  whose 
doings  it  did  not  approve.  The  Massachusetts  General 
Court  at  once  passed  such  a  law,  and  the  Quakers  hastened 
to  Boston  to  "  test  the  law  " ;  four  of  them  were  hanged, 
and  others  were  severely  punished. 

Many  writers  have  sought  to  justify  the  action  of  Massa 
chusetts  on  the  ground  that  every  state  has  the  power  to 
close  its  boundaries  to  outsiders  and  to  eject  from  its  midst 
any  persons  who  are  hostile  to  its  well  being.  This  power, 
the  English  government  had  delegated  to  the  Massachusetts 


Winsor's 
America,  III, 
469-473 ; 
Janney's 
Penn,  ch.  ii ; 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
179-181. 


The  Quaker 
Invasion, 
begins  1656. 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
183-190; 
Chandler's 
Criminal 
Trials,  I, 
33-63;    Sted- 
man  and 
Hutchinson, 
1,394-403; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  140- 
142. 


Attempts  to 
justify  Mas 
sachusetts. 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


The  Quakers 
in  the  other 
colonies. 


Massachu 
setts  and 
England, 
1661.  Fiske's 
New  Eng 
land,  191- 
192;    *Fro(h- 
ingham's 
Republic, 
49-62. 


The  king's 
judges. 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
IH,5o; 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
192-  *Stiles's 
Judges  of 
Charles  /. 


Bay  Company,  which  undoubtedly  possessed  the  legal  right 
to  refuse  admission  to  the  Quakers.  It  should  also  be  said 
that  the  executions  of  the  Quakers  were  disliked  by.  the 
plain  people  of  Massachusetts  and  were  carried  out  only 
through  a  display  of  force. 

The  other  members  of  the  Confederation  made  severe 
laws  against  the  Quakers ;  but  none  of  them  proceeded  to 
such  extremities.  Outside  New  England  also,  the  Quakers 
were  received  with  disfavor.  For  instance,  in  New  Nether- 
land,  where  Stuyvesant  still  ruled,  they  were  treated  with 
great  harshness,  were  beaten,  hung  by  the  hands,  and  other 
wise  cruelly  abused. 

80.  The  English  Government  and  Massachusetts.  —  The 
Quakers  complained  of  the  action  of  the  Massachusetts 
magistrates,  and  the  English  government  at  once  interfered. 
From  the  outset  the  Massachusetts  rulers  had  allowed  no 
appeal  from  their  decisions  to  the  courts  in  England  ;  it 
seemed  now  that  a  case  had  arisen  where  the  English 
authorities  might  compel  the  colony  to  permit  an  appeal. 
An  order  was  drawn  up  directing  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Company  to  send  the  Quakers  to  England  for  trial.  But 
when  the  order  reached  Boston  the  laws  had  already  been 
modified,  the  jails  emptied  of  their  inmates,  and  there  were 
no  prisoners  under  accusation  to  send  to  England. 

A  far  more  serious  offense  in  the  eyes  of  the  new  rulers 
of  England  was  the  sheltering  of  two  of  the  judges  who  had 
signed  the  death  warrant  of  Charles  the  First.  These  regi 
cides,  as  they  were  termed,  were  seen  in  Boston  by  an  Eng 
lish  ship  captain,  who  reported  the  matter  to  the  authorities 
on  his  return  to  England.  Orders  were  at  once  sent  to  the 
colony  to  seize  them  and  send  them  to  England.  They 
escaped,  however,  and  lived  concealed  in  the  New  Haven 
colony,  and  later  in  the  interior  6f  Massachusetts.  The 
colonial  government  showed  so  much  zeal  for  their  arrest, 
and  so  much  skill  in  managing  their  escape,  that  the  Eng 
lish  authorities  could  do  nothing  in  the  matter,  whatever 
their  suspicions  may  have  been.  ' 


1 66 1]        Massachusetts  Declaration  of  Rig/its  93 

81.  Massachusetts  Declaration  of  Rights,   1661.  —  Soon   Declaration 
afterwards,   the    Massachusetts    General    Court   drew  up  a   of  Rjghts> 
Declaration  of  Rights,  which  carries  us  forward  a  century. 

In  it  the  General  Court  asserted  that  its  right  to  govern 
depended  on  the  charter,  which  gave  it  full  legislative 
power,  provided  its  laws  were  not  contrary  to  those  of 
England.  The  charter,  furthermore,  gave  it  power  to  de 
fend  the  colony,  by  sea  and  by  land,  against  all  persons 
who  should  seek  to  annoy  the  colony.  "  We  conceive," 
said  the  General  Court,  that  "  any  imposition  [which  is] 
prejudicial  to  the  country,  contrary  to  any  just  law  of  ours, 
[which  is]  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England,  to  be  an 
infringement  of  our  right."  This  was  plainly  aimed  against 
the  Navigation  Act.  On  the  other  hand,  it  acknowledged 
that  the  company  had  certain  duties  to  perform  :  to  bear 
allegiance  to  the  king,  to  protect  the  person  and  the  domin 
ions  of  the  monarch,  and  to  govern  according  to  the  charter. 

Two  agents  were  sent  to  England  to  try  to  smooth  over  English  de- 
matters.  They  returned  with  a  royal  letter  in  which  the  mands,  1661. 
king  told  the  men  of  Massachusetts  that  they  might  make 
"sharp  laws  against  the  Quakers,"  for  their  ideas  "were 
inconsistent  with  any  kind  of  government."  The  king's 
letter  also  contained  some  new  demands  :  that  the  oath 
of  allegiance  should  be  taken,  that  divine  service  should  be 
permitted  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  that  all  persons  orthodox  in  religion,  though  of  different 
beliefs  as  to  church  government,  and  of  competent  estate 
should  be  admitted  to  a  share  in  the  government  Accord- 
*  ingly,  the  General  Court  enacted  a  new  law  for  admission 
to  the  company,  in  almost  the  words  used  by  the  king ;  but, 
as  the  certificate  of  orthodoxy  was  to  be  given  by  the  min 
isters  in  the  several  towns,  who  were  all  Puritans,  it  is  not 
probable  that  the  new  law  helped  those  who  were  not 
church  members.  The  General  Court  also  made  regula 
tions  better  to  enforce  the  Navigation  Acts ;  but  these,  too, 
amounted  to  little  in  practice. 

82.  The  Commission  of  1664.  —  Massachusetts,  it  will  be 


94 


A    Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§83 


Complaints 
against  Mas 
sachusetts. 


Commis 
sioners  sent 
to  Boston, 
1664. 


Failure  of 
the  commis 
sioners. 


Connecticut 
and  Rhode 
Island  char 
ters,  1662-63 


remembered,  had  governed  the  feeble  settlements  to  the 
northward,  to  some  of  which  she  had  a  good  claim  ;  and  she 
had  treated  the  Rhode  Island  colonists  in  a  most  overbear 
ing  manner.  From  all  these  colonies  complaints  reached 
England,  and  the  grantees  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine, 
whose  claims  Massachusetts  had  treated  with  scant  courtesy, 
seized  this  favorable  opportunity  for  revenge ;  nor  were  the 
discontented  dwellers  within  the  colony  silent.  The  English 
government  sent  a  commission  to  New  England  to  examine 
into  these  accusations  and  to  settle  as  many  of  these  ques 
tions  as  possible.  When  the  news  of  the  appointment  of 
this  commission  reached  Boston  the  General  Court  ordered 
the  fort  in  the  harbor  to  be  strengthened  and  prepared  for 
defense  ;  they  also  confided  the  charter  to  a  committee  for 
safe  keeping. 

The  commissioners  arrived  in  1664,  communicated  their 
instructions  to  the  General  Court,  and  then  departed  to  the 
conquest  of  New  Netherland.  In  1665  they  returned  to 
Boston  and  demanded  a  positive  answer  from  the  General 
Court,  as  to  whether  or  not  it  recognized  the  force  of  the 
king's  commission.  The  General  Court  replied  that  it  was 
not  its  business  to  determine  the  force  of  the  commission ; 
it  had  a  charter  and  was  obliged  to  govern  according  to  it. 
The  commissioners  then  endeavored  to  hold  a  court  in  the 
king's  name,  but  the  magistrates  warned  all  persons  against 
attending  it,  on  their  duty  to  God  and  allegiance  to  the  king. 
Beaten  at  every  step,  the  commissioners  returned  to  Eng 
land.  In  1666  the  king  ordered  the  Massachusetts  authori 
ties  to  send  over  some  of  their  principal  men  to  justify  their 
proceedings ;  but  the  General  Court  declined  to  do  so  "  on 
suspicion  of  the  authenticity  of  the  letter."  Now  again,  as 
in  1635,  events  in  England  prevented  the  punishment  of  the 
colony  ;  the  Dutch  were  in  the  Thames,  and  were  blockading 
London. 

83.  Charters  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  —  While 
Massachusetts  had  been  engaged  in  this  contest  with  the 
crown,  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  had  won  favors  from 


1664] 


Conquest  of  New  Netherland 


95 


the  king  in  the  shape  of  two  charters,  one  granted  in  1662 
to  Connecticut  and  the  other  in  1663  to  Rhode  Island. 
These  charters  were  drawn  in  such  a  liberal  spirit  that  they 
continued  to  form  the  fundamental  laws  of  Connecticut  and 
of  Rhode  Island  until  1818  and  1842.  The  voters  of  these 
two  colonies  were  formed  into  corporations  :  to  them  was 
given  practically  all  power,  with  the  reservation  of  allegiance 
to  the  crown  and  the  necessity  of  passing  only  such  laws  as 
should  be  conformable  to  the  laws  of  England ;  their  laws 
were  not  to  be  sent  to  England,  but  might  be  annulled  by 
the  king  in  council  on  appeal  from  the  colonial  courts.  In 
other  respects  they  enjoyed  complete  self-government :  they 
elected  their  own  officers  and  managed  their  own  affairs  to 
suit  themselves.  The  Rhode  Island  charter  also  contained 
a  provision  for  religious  equality  not  unlike  that  of  the  sec 
ond  Carolina  charter,  which  was  granted  in  1665.  The 
boundaries  of  the  two  colonies,  where  they  approached  each 
other,  were  not  accurately  defined.  Connecticut's  western 
limits  were  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  old  grant  to 
Lord  Saye  and  Sele  and  Lord  Brooke  (p.  77),  and  New 
Haven  was  included  within  it. 

84.  Conquest  of  New  Netherland,  1664.  —  The  continued 
possession  of  New  Netherland  by  the  Dutch  was  distasteful 
to  the  English;  on  the  other  hand,  its  acquisition  by  the 
English  would  greatly  improve  the  latter's  position  on  the 
continent.  The  conquest  was  easily  effected,  and  the  terms 
given  to  the  vanquished  were  most  liberal.  Nine  years  later 
(1673)  a  Dutch  fleet,  happening  to  be  on  the  coast,  recon 
quered  it ;  but  at  the  Peace  of  Westminster  in  the  following 
year  (1674)  it  was  ceded  back  to  the  English. 

In  1664,  while  it  was  still  in  Dutch  hands,  Charles  II 
granted  New  Netherland  to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of 
York  and  Albany,  who  afterwards  ascended  the  throne  as 
James  II.  James,  on  his  part,  with  true  Stuart  liberality, 
immediately  gave  the  portion  between  New  York  harbor  and 
Delaware  Bay  to  two  court  favorites,  —  Lord  Berkeley  and 
Sir  George  Carteret.  The  latter  had  gallantly  defended  the 


The  English 
conquest  of 
New  Nether 
land,  1664. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 
386-390 ; 
Roberts's 
New  York,  I, 
ch.  vi ; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  155- 

Grants  of 
New  York 
and  New 
Jersey. 
Hinsdale's 
Old  North 
west,  92-96. 


96 


A    Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§85 


New  York  to 
1688.    Win- 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  III, 
392-411. 


Roberts's 
New  York,  I, 
ch.  xii. 


Constitu 
tional  His 
tory  of  New 
Jersey. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 
422-448 ; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  164. 


The  Quakers 

in  New 

Jersey. 

Janney's 

Penn, 

ch.  viii. 


island  of  Jersey  against  the  Puritan  forces,  and  the  province 
was  named  in  his  honor,  New  Jersey.  In  the  .resettlement 
of  New  York  after  the  conquest,  the  old  Dutch  names  were 
changed  to  English  ones :  New  Amsterdam  became  New  York, 
and  Fort  Orange  was  called  Albany ;  but  there  were  surpris 
ingly  few  changes  which  were  likely  to  arouse  opposition. 

The  people  of  all  the  colonies  which  had  been  settled 
by  Englishmen  enjoyed  representative  self-government;  but 
New  York  had  been  settled  by  the  Dutch  and  conquered  by 
the  English.  Its  people,  therefore,  enjoyed  only  the  rights 
secured  to  them  by  the  treaty  which  brought  the  conquest 
to  a  close.  Indeed,  it  was  not  until  1684  that  the  first  rep 
resentative  assembly  met  in  New  York.  After  the  termina 
tion  of  the  Dutch  wars  in  1674  New  York  began  to  grow 
rapidly  ;  but  throughout  the  whole  colonial  period,  settlement 
was  confined  to  Long  Island  and  to  the  banks  of  the  Hud 
son  and  the  lower  Mohawk  rivers. 

85.  Settlement  of  New  Jersey.  —  The  history  of  New 
Jersey  is  very  complicated  and  difficult  to  understand.  The 
colony  soon  became  divided  into  numerous  small  portions, 
each  with  a  history  of  its  own ;  only  the  broad  lines  of  devel 
opment  can  be  traced  in  this  section.  No  sooner  was  the 
grant  made  than  Berkeley  and  Carteret,  the  proprietors, 
took  measures  to  settle  a  colony  in  the  new  province ;  they 
drew  up  and  published  an  agreement  known  as  the  "  Con 
cessions."  In  this  document  they  promised  that  those  who 
should  emigrate  to  New  Jersey  should  enjoy  religious  free 
dom  and  a  liberal  government  resembling  that  of  Maryland. 
Rebellions  began  almost  as  soon  as  the  colonists  reached 
New  Jersey.  These  troubles  induced  Lord  Berkeley  to  sell 
his  interest  in  the  province  to  two  Quakers,  who  soon  quar 
reled.  In  the  end  about  nine  tenths  of  Berkeley's  share 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  trustees,  the  foremost  of  whom 
was  William  Penn.  The  Quakers  then  negotiated  with 
Carteret  and  secured  a  division  of  the  province  into  two 
parts,  East  and  West  Jersey.  The  Friends  took  the  south 
western  part  and  soon  made  many  settlements.  Later,  in 


1664] 


William  Penn 


97 


1682,  they  acquired  Carteret's  rights  in  East  Jersey  also 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  doubt  as  to  whether  any  powers 
of  government  were  conferred  by  the  Duke  of  York  on  the 
New  Jersey  proprietors.  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  governor  of 
New  York,  claimed  that  the  Duke  had  parted  with  his  right 
to  the  soil  only,  and  arrested  the  Jersey  governors.  In  the 
end,  however  (1681),  James  gave  way,  and  the  Jerseys  were 
governed  by  the  proprietors.  The  later  history  of  the  prov 
ince  is  the  story  of  the  gradual  union  of  all  these  interests 
and  the  surrender  of  the  jurisdiction  to  the  crown.  During 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  colony  had  the 
same  governor  as  New  York,  with  a  legislature  of  its  own ; 
in  1738  a  governor  of  New  Jersey  was  appointed,  and  the 
province  became  independent.  Owing  to  the  frugality  and 
industry  of  its  inhabitants,  to  its  freedom  from  fear  of  war, 
protected  as  it  was  by  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  to 
the  fertility  of  its  soil,  New  Jersey  enjoyed  great  prosperity, 
perhaps  more  than  any  other  colony. 

86.  William  Penn.  —  William  Penn,  who  first  became 
interested  in  American  colonization  as  one  of  the  New 
Jersey  trustees,  was  the 
foremost  man  among 
the  Quakers  and  one 
of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  his  time.  Son 
of  a  distinguished  ad 
miral  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  he  risked  all 
chances  of  worldly  ad 
vancement  and  pecun 
iary  independence  for 
conscience'  sake  and 
became  a  Quaker. 

Desirous    to   extend 

his   colonial    interests,  William  Penn 

and  wishing  to  have  a  colony  in  which  he  could  try  his  own 
ideas  of  government,  William  Penn  obtained  from  Charles 


East  and 
West  Jersey. 


William 

Penn. 

Winsor's 

America,  III 

473-476 ; 

Janney's 

Penn. 


Penn  en 
larges  his 
colonial 
interests. 
Janney's 
Penn,  ch.  xii. 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


t§*7 


Extent  of 
Penn's  grant. 
Janney's 
Penn,  ch. 
xviii;   Hins- 
dale's  Old 
Northwest, 
98-104  ; 
Browne's 
Maryland  ; 
Fisher's 
Making  of 
Pennsylva 
nia,  ch.  xi. 


Mason  and 
Dixon'sLine. 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  77 


II  and  James,  Duke  of  York  (1680-82),  the  Swedish-Dutch 
settlements  on  Delaware  Bay  and  a  vast  region  stretching 
westward  from  the  Delaware  through  five  degrees  of  longi 
tude  to  which  the  name  Pennsylvania  was  given.  Of  the 
latter  territory  William  Penn  was  made  proprietary  on  nearly 
the  same  terms  on  which  the  Baltimores  held  Maryland ;  but 
the  laws  of  Pennsylvania,  unlike  those  of  its  neighbor,  were 
to  be  submitted  to  the  king,  who  might  annul  them  at  any 
time  within  three  years.  Religious  toleration  also  was  guar 
anteed,  but  provision  was  made  for  services  according  to  the 
rites  of  the  Established  Church.  Penn's  relations  with  the 
colonists  of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Delaware  were  not  laid 
down  in  any  charter,  and  this  omission  gave  rise  to  trouble 
in  succeeding  years.  Delaware  finally  (1703)  became  inde 
pendent  of  Pennsylvania  so  far  as  the  legislature  was  con 
cerned  ;  but  both  provinces  had  the  same  governor  during 
the  colonial  period. 

87.  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line. — The  boundary  disputes 
of  Pennsylvania  have  been  almost  endless.  The  dispute 
with  Maryland  began  immediately ;  it  was  due  to  the  loose 
geographical  ideas  of  that  time.  The  plan  evidently  was 
that  Penn  should  possess  a  continuous  strip  of  land  on  the 
southern  and  western  shore  of  Delaware  Bay  and  River, 
from  Cape  Henlopen  to  the  northern  boundary  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  This  territory,  so  far  as  it  lay  south  of  the  fortieth 
parallel,  had  been  included  in  Maryland  by  the  charter  of 
1632  ;  but  it  was  held  that  Baltimore  had  forfeited  his  rights 
in  this  region  by  permitting  the  Swedes  and  the  Dutch  to 
make  settlements  on  Delaware  Bay.  When  observations 
were  taken  on  the  spot,  it  was  discovered  that  there  was  a 
gap  of  some  sixteen  miles  between  the  northern  limit  of  the 
Swedish-Dutch  colonies,  which  Penn  had  obtained  by  release 
from  the  Duke  of  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  which  he  had  re 
ceived  from  the  king.  The  southern  boundary  of  Pennsyl 
vania  was  the  fortieth  parallel,  which  had  been  the  southern 
boundary  of  New  England  under  the  charter  of  1620  and 
the  northern  boundary  of  Maryland  under  the  charter  of 


i68o]     TJie  Northern  Boundary  of  Pennsylvania      99 


1632.  Now  a  most  awkward  question  arose  :  Penn  was 
determined  to  retain  the  control  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Delaware  system  and  advanced  arguments  to  show  that 
Maryland  had  practically  no  right  to  any  land  at  all.  For 
years  the  disputation  went  on ;  at  last,  when  both  Penn  and 
Baltimore  were  in  their  graves,  an  arrangement  was  made  be 
tween  their  heirs  which  gave  to  Pennsylvania,  to  Delaware, 
and  to  Maryland  their  present  boundaries  (1732).  Two 
English  surveyors,  Mason  and  Dixon,  determined  the  eastern 
portions  of  these  limits  and  ran  the  line  westward  for  some 
distance,  when  their  further  proceedings  were  stopped  by 
the  Indians  (1762-67).  Subsequently  the  line  was  con 
tinued  to  the  western  boundary  of  Maryland,  and  was  adopted 
by  the  states  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  Virginia  as  limiting 
their  respective  territories.  Such  was  the  origin  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  one  of  the  most  famous  lines  of  demarca 
tion  in  history. 

88.  The  Northern  Boundary  of  Pennsylvania.  —  On  the 
north,  Pennsylvania  came  into  contact  with  Connecticut, 
Massachusetts,  and  New  York. 
In  the  disputes  which  arose  over 
this  portion  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
arguments  which  Penn  had  ad 
vanced  to  restrict  Baltimore's 
grant  were  used  with  great  force 
by  Pennsylvania's  opponents,  and 
in  consequence  that  state  includes 
only  two  degrees  of  latitude,  in 
stead  of  three,  as  the  words  of 
the  charter  seem  to  indicate. 
The  contention  with  Connecticut  Charter  of  Pennsylvania 
was  especially  violent.-  The  Connecticut  people  had  good 
ground  for  complaint,  as  their  charter,  granted  in  1662,  was 
clearly  infringed  upon  by  Perm's  grant  of  some  twenty  years 
later.  The  dispute,  continued  throughout  the  colonial  and 
the  Revolutionary  period,  brought  great  misery  to  the  dwellers 
in  the  Wyoming  valley  and  on  the  upper  Susquehanna,  and 


Northern 
limits. 
Fisher's 
Making  of 
Pennsylva 
nia,  ch.  x. 


Hinsdale's 
Old  North 
west,  1 10- 
118. 


100 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§90 


Penn's 
Indian 
policy. 
Fiske's  New 
England, 
205; 

Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
0,227; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  163. 

The  "  Walk 
ing  Pur 
chase." 


Government. 
Winsor's 
America,  III, 
483-489. 


was  only  concluded  at  the  time  of  the  Connecticut  cession 
of  western  lands  to  the  United  States  (§  223),  by  an  arrange 
ment  which  secured  to  her  a  valuable  tract  of  land  immedi 
ately  west  of  Pennsylvania — known  as  the  Western  Reserve, 
which  is  now  included  in  the  state  of  Ohio. 

89.  Penn  and  the  Indians.  —  William  Penn,  like  Roger 
Williams  and  other  colonists,  was  anxious  that  the  natives 
within  the  limits  of  his  colony  should  be  treated  with  justice. 
Penn's  ideas  were  set  forth  in  a  broad  way  in  a  treaty  with 
the  Indians  which  was  not  unlike  the  agreements  between 
the  settlers  of  New  York  and  the  Iroquois,  and  between  the 
Pilgrims  and  Massasoit.     In  all  three  cases,  justice  and  fair 
dealing  were  promised  on  both  sides,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  all  three  agreements  were  faithfully  carried  out. 

Penn  made  several  other  treaties  with  the  Indians,  which 
related  more  especially  to  the  purchase  of  land.  The  best 
known  of  these,  perhaps,  was  the  so-called  "  Walking  Pur 
chase,"  by  which  Penn  acquired  a  tract  of  land  west  of  the 
Delaware,  extending  inland  as  far  as  a  man  could  walk  in 
three  days.  The  Quaker  proprietary,  with  a  few  friends 
and  a  body  of  Indians,  walked  out  the  first  day  and  a  half 
in  a  leisurely  fashion  ;  they  accomplished  about  thirty  miles, 
which  was  as  much  land  as  was  needed  at  the  moment.  In 
1733,  years  after  Penn's  death,  the  other  day  and  a  half  was 
walked  out,  this  time  in  an  entirely  different  spirit.  The 
Pennsylvania  authorities  then  employed  the  three  fastest 
walkers  that  could  be  found ;  one  of  whom  covered  eighty- 
six  miles  in  thirty-six  hours. 

90.  Government    of   Pennsylvania.  —  Colonists  came    to 
the  new  province  in  great  numbers,  attracted    by   Penn's 
reputation  and  by  the  promise   of  religious   liberty.     The 
proprietary  conferred  upon  them  almost  complete  power  of 
self-government ;  he  even  abandoned  the  right  to  veto  any 
legislation  which  they  might  adopt.     Grave  disputes  arose  : 
the  colonists  did  not  fulfill  their  obligations   to   the   satis 
faction  of  the  proprietary,  and   he  revoked    the  grant   of 
self-government.     In    1701    Penn   granted    the   Charter  of 


1663]  The  Carolina  Charters  FOi 

Privileges,  which  remained   the  fundamental  law  of  Penn 
sylvania  until  the  American  Revolution. 

This  document  was  in  reality  a  written  constitution.     It   Charter  of 
provided  (i)  that  no  person  believing  in  one  God  should   ^™llegJ5 
be  molested  on  account  of  religion;    but    (2)    only   those   ters'and 
"  who  also  profess  to   believe  Jesus   Christ  the  Saviour  of    Constitutions, 
the  world "  could  take  part  in  the   government,  and  then   n>  I5~36' 
only  on  promising  allegiance  to   the   king  and   fidelity  to 
the  proprietary ;   (3)  no  person  should  be  disturbed  in  his 
property  except  by  legal  process ;   (4)  an  assembly,  consist 
ing  of  a  single  house,  should  annually  be  elected  by  the 
freemen,  —  which  was  interpreted  to  mean  taxpayers;  this 
assembly  should  exercise  functions  "  according  to  the  rights 
of  free-born  subjects  of  England,  and  as  is  usual  in  any  of 
the   king's  plantations   in  America";    (5)    the  proprietary 
should   be   represented   by    a  governor  and    council,   who 
could  negative  any  act  of  the  assembly.     The  instrument 
also  contained  a  provision  for  its  amendment  —  except  the 
clause  as  to  religious  freedom  —  provided  the  governor  and 
six  sevenths  of  the  assembly  should  concur. 

This  charter  put  an  end  to  disputes  with  the  proprietary  Controver- 
as  to  forms  of  government ;  but  during  the  greater  part  of  sies  with  the 
the  first  seventy  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was 
a  fierce  controversy  over  the  question  of  the  taxation  of  the 
proprietary's  lands :  the  people  asserted  that  these  should 
be  taxed  like  the  lands  of  any  private  person,  while  the 
Penns  claimed  freedom  from  taxes  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  representatives  of  the  king.  Franklin  went  to  England 
to  lay  the  views  of  the  colonists  before  the  home  govern 
ment  ;  in  the  end,  the  Privy  Council  decided  in  favor  of 
the  Pennsylvanians  (1759),  on  certain  conditions,  however, 
which  were  by  no  means  to  the  colonists'  liking. 

91.   The  Carolina  Charters,  1663,  1665.  — Tne  new  out>   Carolina 
burst  of  colonizing  spirit  which  followed  the  Restoration  of    charters, 
Charles  II  was  not  confined  to  the   northern    and    middle   winsor's5' 
colonies  :  it  led  also  to  the  founding  of  a  new  colony  south   America,  v, 
of  Virginia,  which  was  named   Carolina   in    honor   of  the   29°- 


.   1 02  .  i ;  ^' '  •  A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§92 


Limits. 
American 
History 
Leaflets, 
No.  16. 


Religious 
freedom. 


Early  settle 
ments. 
Winsor's 
America,  V, 
287-290. 


Charleston, 
1680.    Win 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  V,  307- 
309- 


second  Charles.  An  earlier  charter  had  already  named  this 
region  Carolina  for  the  first  Charles.  Among  the  grantees 
under  the  new  charter  (1663)  were  Clarendon,  Albemarle 
(General  Monk  of  Cromwell's  time),  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper, 
at  the  time  known  as  Lord  Ashley  and  later  as  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  Sir  William  Berkeley,  and  the  two  grantees  of 
New  Jersey,  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret.  The  ter 
ritory  given  to  them  lay  between  the  thirty-first  and  the  thirty- 
sixth  parallels  of  latitude,  and  extended  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.  A  part  of  it  was  within  the  limits  of  Virginia 
under  the  charter  of  1609,  and  two  years  later  (1665)  by 
another  grant  the  northern  boundary  of  Carolina  was  pushed 
still  farther  north  to  include  one  half  a  degree  more  of 
Virginia  soil  (36°  30').  At  the  same  time,  the  southern 
boundary  was  pushed  two  degrees  farther  south  to  the 
twenty-ninth  parallel  (map,  p.  68). 

The  most  interesting  provision  in  the  charter  of  1665  is 
one  which  guaranteed  freedom  of  conscience  and  worship 
to  all  Christians  on  condition  that  "  they  abused  not  their 
liberty  to  the  disturbance  of  others."  In  other  respects, 
the  Carolina  proprietaries  enjoyed  the  same  powers  of  gov 
ernment  as  the  grantees  of  Maryland  (p.  61). 

92.  Settlement  of  the  Carolinas.  —  Preparations  were  at 
once  made  to  take  possession  of  the  new  province.  Settlers 
already  were  living  in  the  northern  parts,  on  Albemarle 
Sound,  and  a  few  New  Englanders  had  at  one  time  settled 
on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  but  it  is  not  certain  whether  there 
were  any  living  in  that  region  in  1663.  Colonists  came 
soon  from  the  Barbados,  and  a  prosperous  settlement 
sprang  up  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  province. 

In  1670  the  first  band  of  immigrants  came  to  the  south 
ern  part  of  Carolina  and  settled  on  the  southern  side  of 
what  is  now  known  as  Charleston  harbor.  This  famous  port 
is  formed  by  two  rivers,  the  Ashley  and  the  Cooper,  named 
in  honor  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury ;  between  them  was  a 
bit  of  ground  destined  by  nature  to  become  the  seaport  of 
the  southeast,  as  Manhattan  Island  was  designed  to  be  the 


1670]  Grievances  of  the    Virginians  103 

commercial  center  of  the  north.  It  was  not  until  1680  that 
the  colonists  moved  across  the  Ashley  to  Oyster  Point,  as 
this  tract  between  the  rivers  was  then  called,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  Charleston.  The  new  settlement  throve,  and 
by  the  end  of  the  century,  notwithstanding  troubles  with 
Indians  and  with  the  Spaniards,  it  was  well  established. 

93.   Grievances  of  the  Virginians,  1660-76.  —  The  Res-   Virginia, 
toration  brought  even  more  trouble  to  the  loyal  colony  of    l66a~76. 
Virginia  than  it  did  to  the  members  of  the  Puritanical  New   America, 
England   Confederation.      Virginia's  royalist   governor,  Sir   in,  149. 
William  Berkeley,  was  one  of  the  Carolina  grantees  and  a 
party  to  detaching  from  the  Old  Dominion  a  large  piece  of 
her  territory.     To  requite  the   proffered  hospitality  of  the 
Virginia  royalists  (p.  59),  Charles  II,  while  still. in  exile, 
had  renewed  his  father's  grant  of  Virginia  to  several  court 
favorites.     After  the  Restoration  (in  1663),  he  granted  the 
whole    colony  to   two    men,  Arlington    and    Culpeper,  who 
were  nearly  as  disreputable  as  he  was  himself.     This  made 
them    masters   of  the    province,  and    the   Virginians   were 
obliged  to  buy  them  off  as  well  as  they  could.     The  new 
rulers  of  England  also  enforced  the  Navigation  Acts  with 
more  vigor  than  the  Puritans  had  done,  and  by  new  laws 
(p.   90)    interfered  with   the  tobacco   trade,  and  caused  a 
serious  diminution  in  the  price  of  that  staple.     The  Virgini 
ans  petitioned  for  relief,  but  received  none. 

The  royalist  faction  naturally  gained  the  ascendency  in  the  Hart's  Con- 
colony  at  the  Restoration ;  they  made  sharp  laws  against  re-  femPoraries< 
ligious  dissenters,  paid  no  attention  to  education,  and  very 
little  to  religion.  Corruption  and  extortion  prevailed  in  all 
branches  of  the  government,  and  no  election  to  the  assembly 
was  held  for  fourteen  years.  Then  this  ancient  legislative 
body,  which  had  been  in  existence  since  1660,  enacted  a 
law  greatly  restricting  the  franchise,  and  it  was  proposed  to 
hold  a  new  election  under  this  act.  Affairs  were  in  a  critical 
condition  when  the  Indians  became  very  restless.  The 
governor  took  little  interest  in  plans  for  protecting  the 
colonists,  and  was  believed  to  be  more  concerned  for  the 


104 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§96 


Bacon's  Re 
bellion,  1676. 
Wmsor's 
America,  III, 

I5I-I53; 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
1.445-478; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  71. 


Virginia  to 
1700.     Win- 
sor's  Amer 
ica,  V,  263- 
265;  Sted 
man  and 
Hutchinson, 
11,265; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
\,  No.  89. 


King 
Philip's 
War. 

Fiske's  New 
England, 
207-241 ; 
Old  South 
Leaflets, 
VIII,  No.  4. 


prosperity  of  the  natives  than  he  was  for  the  safety  of  the 
settlers,  as  he  received  the  net  proceeds  of  the  duties  on  the 
furs  exported. 

94.  Bacon's  Rebellion,  1676.  —  Nathaniel  Bacon,  an  able 
and  popular  man,  now  stepped  forward  and  assumed  charge 
of  the  war  with  the  savages.     Berkeley,  on  his  part,  declared 
Bacon  and  those  who  aided  him  to  be  rebels ;  this  declara 
tion  was  the  signal  for  a  general  uprising.     It  is  useless  to 
follow  the  course  of  this  revolt :  wherever  Bacon  appeared, 
he  was   successful,  but    as    soon   as    his   back  was  turned, 
Berkeley  gained  the  upper  hand.     Before  long  Bacon  died, 
and  the  excitement  came  to  a  sudden  end.     There  are  indi 
cations  to  the  effect  that  Bacon  hoped  to  unite  other  colonies 
with  Virginia  in  resistance  to  the  royal  authorities.      The 
most  regrettable  thing  about  Bacon's  Rebellion  was  that  it 
prevented  the  granting  of  a  charter  giving  the  Virginia  colo 
nists  the  government  of  the  province  on  substantially  the 
terms  of  the  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  charters. 

95.  Virginia,  1677-1700.  —  Virginia   next    fell   into    the 
hands  of  a  most  greedy  set  of  governors,  —  Lord  Culpeper, 
Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  and  Sir 
Francis  Nicholson.     The  only  important  event  of  their  time 
was  the  founding  of  William  and  Mary  College,  named  after 
its  royal  patrons,  the  king  and  queen  of  England  (1692). 
Its  founder  was  the  Rev.  James  Blair,  who  desired  to  estab 
lish  an  institution  in  which  young  Virginians  might  be  edu 
cated  for  the  ministry  of  the  Established   Church.     Little 
was  realized  in  this  respect,  but  the  college  provided  a  fair 
training  for  those  young  Virginians  who  could  not  go  to  a 
Northern  college  or  to  England  for  an  education. 

96.  Overthrow  of  the  Massachusetts  Charter.  —  The  years 
1675-76,  which  were  so  eventful  in  the  history  of  Virginia, 
were  even  more  important  in  the  annals  of  New  England, 
for  then  occurred  a  terrible  struggle  with  the  natives,  which 
is  known  as  King  Philip's  War,  from  the  name  of  the  Indian 
chief  who  organized  the  movement.     The  contest  resulted 
in  the  crushing  overthrow  of  the   Indians ;  it  also  greatly 


1676]    The  "Stuart  Tyranny  in  New  England"     105 


diminished  the  power  of  the  New  England  colonies  to  resist 
the  renewed  attacks  of  their  enemies  in  England.  The  chief 
causes  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  English  authorities 
were  the  non-observance  of  the  Navigation  Acts,  the  inde 
pendent  attitude  of  the  colonists  in  King  Philip's  War,  and 
the  purchase  of  Maine  by  Massachusetts. 

In  1676  Edward  Randolph  arrived  at  Boston.  He  came 
as  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  the  king,  in  which  the  mon 
arch  vigorously  complained  of  the  action  of  Massachusetts 
as  to  the  Navigation  Acts.  Randolph's  further  duty  was  to 
spy  out  irregularities  in  the  conduct  of  the  government,  on 
which  a  suit  could  be  founded  for  the  revocation  of  the 
Massachusetts  charter.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  discovering 
many  unlawful  proceedings,  and  he  drew  up  a  report  stating 
the  results  of  his  observations.  The  attack  on  Massachusetts 
was  part  of  a  general  scheme  for  the  consolidation  of  all  the 
colonial  governments,  save  Pennsylvania  and  Carolina,  under 
the  direct  control  of  the  crown.  Had  the  plan  been  carried 
out,  the  whole  power  of  the  English- American  colonies 
would  have  been  wielded  by  one  hand.  This  would  have 
greatly  increased  the  power  of  England  to  resist  French 
aggressions,  and  would  also  have  led  to  a  corresponding 
diminution  in  the  ability  of  the  colonists  to  withstand  the 
attacks  of  king  and  of  Parliament.  After  a  prolonged  legal 
contest,  the  Massachusetts  charter  was  annulled  (1684)  and 
the  government  of  Massachusetts  was  confided  to  Joseph 
Dudley,  son  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  colony.  He  was 
soon  replaced  by  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  once  governor  of 
New  York. 

97.  The  "Stuart  Tyranny  in  New  England."  —  Sir 
Edmund  Andros  was  a  faithful  servant  of  bad  masters.  He 
was  directed  to  exercise  in  Massachusetts  powers  similar  to 
those  wielded  by  the  governor  in  the  conquered  province 
of  New  York.  All  authority  was  given  to  his  council ;  but 
the  latter  was  so  servile  that  it  is  correct  to  say  the  gov 
ernor  possessed  sole  power.  No  provision  was  made  for 
any  representative  legislative  body :  Andros  decreed  laws, 


Renewed 
attack  on 
Massachu 
setts,  1676- 
84.     Fiske's 
New  Eng 
land,  253- 
266. 


Massachu 
setts  charter 
annulled, 
1684.    Hart's 
Contempora 
ries,  I,  No. 
135- 

Andros  in 
New  Eng 
land.  Fiske's 
New  Eng 
land,  267- 
271 ;  Wen 
dell's  Cotton 
Mather, 


io6 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§97 


Old  South 
Le  aft  els,  2d 
series. 


The 

dominion  of 
New  Eng 
land,  1688. 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 

I,   122. 


levied  taxes,  executed  the  law,  and,  through  judges  who 
owed  their  appointments  to  him,  exercised  judicial  power. 

Many  of  his  acts, 
which  seemed  harsh 
to  the  Puritans  of 
that  time,  do  not  ap 
pear  so  severe  to  us. 
For  instance,  he  com 
pelled  witnesses  to 
kiss  the  Bible  when 
they  took  an  oath  to 
give  true  testimony, 
and  he  insisted  that 
those  whose  land 
titles  were  defective 
should  have  them 
confirmed  by  himself 
as  representative  of 
the  king.  But  An- 

Sir  Edmund  Andros  dr°S'S       methods      of 

performing  his  duties 

were  most  ungracious,  and  he  abused  his  power  to  seize 
private  property.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
he  had  to  deal  with  a  most  able  opposition. 

Steps  were  also  taken  to  secure  the  revocation  of  the 
charters  of  Connecticut  and  of  Rhode  Island,  but  no  judg 
ment  was  ever  recorded  against  these  colonies.  Never 
theless,  Andros  took  control  of  them,  in  conformity  with 
a  new  commission  issued  in  1688.  This  commission  greatly 
extended  the  limits  of  his  authority  :  the  Dominion  of  New 
England,  of  which  he  was  appointed  governor,  included  all 
the  English  possessions  on  the  continent  south  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  north  of  Pennsylvania.  Boston  remained 
the  principal  seat  of  government,  and  Andros  was  repre 
sented  at  New  York  by  a  deputy  governor,  Francis  Nichol 
son.  The  revocation  of  the  Maryland  charter  was  also  in 
contemplation,  and  the  plans  of  the  Stuart  monarchs  seemed 


i688]  Policy  of  the  New  Government  107 

about  to  be  accomplished,  when  the  "  Glorious  Revolution 
of  1688"  hurled  James  II  from  the  throne.  It  may  be 
said,  therefore,  that  the  Revolution  had  as  important  conse 
quences  for  America  as  it  had  for  England. 

98.  The  "  Glorious  Revolution"  in  America.  —  The  news   Overthrow 
of  the  landing  of  William  of  Orange,  in  November,  1688,    ofAndros. 
reached  Boston  in  March,  1689,  and  the  flight  of  James  II    England™ 
was  probably  known  to  the  colonial  leaders  not  long  after.   272;.  Sted- 

At  all  events,  on  the  morning  of  April  18,  the  town  was  full   ™an  fnd 

Hutchmson, 
of  armed  men;  Andros  was  arrested  and  placed  in  confine-    n)72; 

ment,  and  the  commander  of  an  English  frigate,  which  hap-   *Hart's  Con- 
pened  to  be  in   the   harbor,   was   compelled  to  strike  her   f^o"™^'- 
topmasts  and  send  her  sails  on  shore.     A  provisional  gov 
ernment   was    then   formed    under   the    old    charter,    and 
William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed  king  and  queen.     Con 
necticut  and  Rhode  Island  re-established  their  old  charter 
governments. 

In  New  York  there  was  serious  trouble,  due  to  the  sharp  "Leisier's 
political   and    religious    divisions   which   prevailed    in    that   Rebelllon-" 

i  rr,  T         v    T     •  i  /-  Stedmanand 

colony.     Ihe   power  passed  to    Jacob  Leisler,   a  German   Hutchinson, 
merchant  and  captain  of  the  trained  band  of  New  York.   11,478; 
He  was  a  man  of  force,  but  he  lacked  discretion,  and  he   Chandler's 

Criminal 

also  was  opposed  by  the  extreme  English  faction.  Trials, 

In    Maryland,    the    Protestants,    especially  those    of  the  257-266; 

Established  Church,  were  opposed  to  the  proprietary's  rule.  te^rar^e~s 

Led  by  John  Coode,  they  seized  the  government  and  sent  I,  NO.  157; 

an  address  to  William  and  Mary.     On  the  other  hand,  Balti-  Roberts's 

.          ,.  New  York, 

more  was  peculiarly  unfortunate  :  he  dispatched  a  messen-    j  ch  xiii> 
ger  to  Maryland  directing  his  governor  there  to  proclaim  the 
new  monarchs,  but  the  bearer  of  this   order  died  while  on 
the  way,  and  the  successors  of  James  were  not  proclaimed. 

99.  Policy  of  the  New  Government.  — When  William  and   William's 
his  advisers  were  able  to  look  away  from  the  British  Isles   colonial 
and  to  examine  into  the  condition  of  affairs  in  England's 
possessions  beyond  the  sea,  they  found  themselves  greatly 
perplexed.     The  case  of  Maryland  was  clear  enough  :  they 

could  not  allow  the  province  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  a 


io8 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§99 


nobleman  who  did  not  recognize  their  authority.  A  royal 
governor  was  sent  to  Maryland,  but  the  charter  was  not  re 
voked.  Some  years  later,  in  the  time  of  Queen  Anne,  a 
Protestant  Lord  Baltimore  regained  the  jurisdiction.-  As  to 


ecfital  to  m 

n      i      r1    c 
actepted  by  iae*  Jrf  elttrer 

Hct  or  Jinate  to  Kka  va  allEitllck  ID 
aixi  for  5W3jr  Stoc3c' 
Ireafttcy  jBoAon  In 

By  Order^'of 


Massachusetts  currency,  1 690 

Pennsylvania,  the  government  of  that  province  was  confided 
to  the  governor  of  New  York,  but  afterwards  it  was  restored 
to  Penn.  The  Baltimores  and  the  Perms  continued  to 
exercise  the  powers  of  proprietaries  until  the  American 
Revolution. 


1691]  Policy  of  the  New  Government  109 

In  New  York,  affairs  did  not  progress  so  smoothly.  The 
new  government  at  first  recognized  Leisler's  authority,  but 
later  appointed  a  governor,  Henry  Sloughter,  to  supersede 
him.  Unfortunately,  Sloughter  fell  under  the  influence  of 
the  English  party.  Leisler  had  laid  himself  open  to  a  Execution 


charge  of  technical  treason  ;    he  was    convicted  and    sen-   of 
tenced   to  death.      Sloughter,   while  intoxicated,   signed   a    New  York, 
warrant  for  his  execution,  and  Leisler  was  hanged  before  the    I,  206-214. 
intemperate  governor  came  to  his  senses.     Afterwards  the 
English  government  did  what  it  could  by  a  public  funeral 
and  a  pension  to  his  widow  to  atone  for  this  murder  of  one 
of  the  best  friends  of  the  "  Glorious  Revolution." 

The  people  of  Connecticut  and  of  Rhode  Island  were  not   The  Massa- 
further  molested.     With  regard  to  Massachusetts,  the  case   chusetts 
was  different  :  her  charter  had  been  annulled.     Besides,  the   charter^  i 
Bay  colony  had  shown  too  much  strength  to  be  permitted    Fiske's  New 
again  to  become  practically  independent      A  new  charter,   Englartd> 
usually  called    the    Province    Charter,   was    drawn   up  and   winsor's 
issued  in   1691.      This  established  a  form   of  government   America, 
midway  between  that  of  an  independent  colony  like  Con-      '  87~92- 
necticut,  and   that   of  a  royal  province  like  Virginia  :    the 
governor,  secretary,  and  treasurer  of  the  new  province  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  king  ;  the  council,  however,  was  to 
be  elected  by  a  body  representing  the  people,  subject  to 
the  confirmation  of  the  governor  ;    to   the   representatives 
was  also  confided  the  initiative  in  financial  matters,  —  which 
gave  the  skilled  politicians  of  Massachusetts  the  chance  to 
take  away  from  the  governor  most  of  the  power  which  the 
charter  had  given  to  that  official. 

Massachusetts,  as  a  province,  included  New  Plymouth,  Limits  of 
Maine,  and  the  English  possessions  to  the  eastward  ;  but 
New  Hampshire  was  given  a  government  of  its  own.  A 
form  of  words  was  used  in  the  new  charter  to  describe  the 
boundary  between  these  provinces  which  the  English  Privy 
Council,  of  a  later  day,  interpreted  to  mean  that  Massachu 
setts  extended  to  a  point  three  miles  northward  of  the  most 
southern  point  of  the  Merrimac  only,  instead  of  to  a  point 


Massachu- 


110 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History  [§  101 


Character 
of  period, 
1690-1760. 


Oglethorpe 
and  founding 
of  Georgia, 
1732. 
Winsor's 
America, 
V,  361-367, 
387-389- 


Carolina 

Rebellion, 

1719. 


three  miles  northward  of  the  most  northern  point  of  that 
stream,  as  the  old  charter  had  plainly  intended.  The 
limits  of  Massachusetts  still  extended  westward  to  the 
South  Sea,  as  they  had  in  the  charter  of  1629. 

100.  Georgia.  —  The  period  from  the  accession  of  Wil 
liam  and  Mary  to  the  beginning  of  the  events  (1760)  which 
led    directly  to   the    separation    of  the    colonies    from  the 
British   Empire,   was   a  time   of  great   material    prosperity 
within  the  English  colonies,  and  of  conflicts  with  the  French 
on  the  north  and  west  and  with  the  Spaniards  on  the  south. 
Only  one  new  province  was  founded  during  this  period,  and 
the  colonies  grew  rather  by  developing  the  resources  within 
their  limits  than  by  planting  new  settlements. 

The  new  province,  Georgia  (1732),  had  its  rise  in  the 
desire  of  General  Oglethorpe  and  other  benevolent  persons 
in  England  to  provide  a  place  in  America  where  those  who 
had  been  unsuccessful  at  home  might  obtain  a  new  start  in 
life.  But  these  charitable  people  laid  down  conditions  which 
greatly  hampered  those  whom  they  wished  to  benefit :  they 
granted  land  in  too  small  quantities,  and  forbade  negro 
slavery.  In  consequence,  the  Georgia  settlers  found  it  im 
possible  to  compete  with  the  Carolinians  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Savannah  River.  Unable  to  own  slaves,  they  hired 
them  of  the  Carolina  slave  owners,  and  in  this  way  slavery 
was  introduced  into  Georgia.  The  Spaniards  viewed  the 
newcomers  with  jealousy,  and  Oglethorpe  passed  most  of 
his  time  while  in  America  in  dreary,  but  on  the  whole  success 
ful,  conflicts  with  them.  The  Georgia  charter  contained  an 
unusual  clause,  limiting  the  existence  of  the  company  to 
twenty-one  years.  Before  that  time  had  expired,  the  trustees 
were  so  disheartened  that  they  surrendered  their  charter  to 
the  crown,  and  henceforth  Georgia  was  governed  as  a  royal 
province. 

101.  The  Carolinas.  —  Meantime  a  great  change  had  come 
over  the    Carolinas.      The    proprietaries'    government    had 
been  most  unsuccessful,  and  had  become  intensely  unpopu 
lar  in  the  colony.     One  of  the  most  curious  results  of  their 


1689] 


Constitutional  Progress 


in 


policy  was  to  give  an  undue  amount  of  influence  to  the 
people  of  Charleston  and  its  immediate  neighborhood. 
The  elections  to  the  assembly  were  held  in  the  open  air  at 
Charleston,  and  the  votes  were  given  viva  voce.  The 
people  were  anxious  to  have  the  colony  divided  into  districts, 
but  the  system  above  described  gave  the  governors  an  un 
usual  chance  to  control  elections,  and  nothing  was  done. 
In  1719  matters  reached  a  crisis,  and  the  proprietaries' 
governor  was  deposed.  Anxious  to  secure  the  revocation 
of  the  Carolina  charter,  the  English  government  seized  upon 
this  favorable  opportunity  to  send  out  a  royal  governor. 
After  vain  attempts  to  assert  their  authority,  the  proprie 
taries,  save  one,  sold  to  the  crown  (1729-31)  their  rights  of 
government  and  their  title  to  the  undivided  lands  in  the 
province. 

From  the  beginning,  there  had  been  two  centers  of  settle 
ment  and  government  in  Carolina ;  this  division  was  now 
recognized,  but  the  line  between  the  two  provinces  was  not 
run  for  many  years.  Under  the  royal  governors,  the  Caro- 
linas  became  very  prosperous,  especially  after  the  founding 
of  Georgia  relieved  them  of  danger  from  Spanish  attacks. 
In  1738  a  serious  slave  insurrection  startled  the  colony; 
it  was  put  down,  and  led  to  the  enactment  of  a  most  severe 
system  of  slave  laws.  There  were  also  troubles  with  the 
Indians,  and  with  a  succession  of  extortionate  royal  gov 
ernors ;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  Carolinas  grew  rapidly  in 
strength  and  resources. 

102.  Constitutional  Progress,  1689-1760. — The  first  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century  witnessed  a  gradual  but  steady 
growth  in  the  power  of  the  representative  legislative  bodies, 
except  in  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  where  they  were 
already  supreme.  In  this  growth  they  were  greatly  assisted 
by  the  poor  character  of  the  royal  governors,  who  were 
for  the  most  part  men  of  broken  fortune  and  of  little  force. 
The  disputes  generally  turned  on  questions  of  money :  the 
governors  desired  to  have  their  salaries  fixed  by  law ;  the 
assemblies  preferred  to  regard  them  in  the  light  of  pay- 


Winsoi's 
America,  V, 
322-329 ; 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
II,  277- 


The 

Carolinas 
to  1760. 
Winsor's 
America, 
V,  ch.  v. 


Characters 
of  royal 
governors. 


112 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


103 


Lord 

Cornbury. 


The  French 
and  Indian 
Wars. 
Parkman's 
Works; 
Winsor's 
America,  V, 
407-413. 


Peace  of 
Utrecht, 


ments  for  services  rendered,  —  generally  the  approval  of 
some  measure  opposed  to  the  policy  of  the  home  govern 
ment.  The  worst  royal  representative  who  ever  came  to 
America  was  probably  Lord  Cornbury,  governor  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey.  He  was  the  grandson  of  the  first 
Earl  of  Clarendon  and  cousin  to  Queen  Anne.  His  first 
exploit  was  to  steal  twelve  thousand  dollars  which  the  New 
York  assembly  had  voted  for  fortifications.  The  represent 
atives  thereupon  declined  to  vote  any  more  money  un 
less  it  should  be  expended  by  officials  in  whom  they  had 
confidence.  When  his  recall  brought  him  under  the  juris 
diction  of  the  law,  he  was  arrested  for  unpaid  debts  and 
lodged  in  jail  until  his  accession  to  the  earldom  of  Claren 
don  enabled  him  to  satisfy  his  creditors  and  to  return  to 
England.  The  Virginians  were  also  subjected  to  a  succes 
sion  of  extortionate  rulers,  from  one  of  whom  they  obtained 
the  right  to  appoint  the  Speaker  of  their  assembly,  and  from 
another  they  wrested  the  appointment  of  provincial  treas 
urer.  These  are  only  instances  of  what  was  going  on  in 
all  the  royal  provinces ;  everywhere  the  royal  authority  was 
constantly  weakened,  and  the  power  of  the  colonists  con 
stantly  increased. 

103.  French  and  Indian  Wars,  1690-1748. — The  acces 
sion  of  William  of  Orange  to  the  English  throne  entangled 
England  in  the  great  struggle  between  the  French  monarchy 
under  Louis  XIV  and  the  other  states  of  Europe ;  the  con 
test  spread  to  America,  and  the  colonists  were  involved  in 
continuous  strife  with  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies, 
which  continued  with  hardly  a  pause  for  upwards  of  half  a 
century.  These  conflicts  have  been  graphically  described 
by  Parkman  in  his  Frontenac  and  New  France  and  his 
Half  Century  of  Conflict. 

The  earlier  part  of  this  period  of  strife  came  to  an  end 
in  1713  with  the  Peace  of  Utrecht.  This  is  the  first  impor 
tant  treaty  in  the  diplomatic  history  of  the  United  States. 
By  it  France  finally  conceded  to  Great  Britain  the  ter 
ritory  which  had  been  explored  by  Henry  Hudson  in  1610. 


i69o] 


French  and  Indian    Wars 


113 


Port  Royal,  the  principal  town  of  Acadia,  had  been  con 
quered  by  the  English  in  1690,  but  had  been  restored 
to  the  French  by  treaty  in  1697  ;  it  had  again  been  seized 
by  the  English  in  1710,  and  was  now,  with  all  Acadia, 
definitely  ceded  to  Great  Britain.  The  boundaries  of 
Acadia,  or  Nova  Scotia,  as  the  English  called  it,  were  very 
vague :  the  French  asserted  that  this  province  included 


Acadia  and 
Acadians. 
Winsor's 
America, 

v,  415-417. 

452-463 ; 
Parkman's 
Mont  calm 
and  Wolfe; 


A  Block  House,  Interior 


V       "!:-.Tjy 

\      '::<: 
A  Block  House,  Exterior 


only  the   peninsula  which  is  now  known  as  Nova  Scotia;   stedmanand 
the  British  argued  that  Acadia  extended  westward  to   the   Hutchinson, 

T  T  T    c8 

English  settlements  in  Maine  and  northward  to  the  St.  Law 
rence.  The  treaty  also  provided  that  the  French  colonists 
in  the  ceded  country  should  enjoy  certain  rights ;  but  these 
rights  were  not  defined.  In  the  end  the  Acadians  were 
removed  in  1755,  when  war  with  France  was  again  immi 
nent.  Other  provisions  of  the  treaty  related  to  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  fisheries  by  the  subjects  of  the  two  monarchs ; 
this  part  of  the  treaty  has  formed  the  basis  of  all  later 
negotiations  on  the  subject. 


114 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§  104 


Peace  of  Aix- 

la-Chapelle, 

1748. 


The  French 
on  the 
Mississippi, 
1673-81. 
Winsor's 
America, 
IV,  ch,v; 
Old  South 
Leaflets, Mil, 
No.  2; 
XL  No.  8. 
Map  in  Hins- 
dale's  Old 
Northwest. 


Louisiana, 
1699. 
Winsor's 
America, 
V,  ch.  i. 


.'    ; 


In  1745  Great  Britain  and  France  were  again  at  war. 
The  New  England  colonists  under  William  Pepperrell, 
with  slight  support  from  a  British  naval  force,  captured 
the  important  military  post  of  Louisburg  on  the  island  of 
Cape  Breton ;  but  this  was  restored  to  the  French  at  the 
Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1748. 

104.  Founding  of  Louisiana.  —  During  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  French  had  gradually  extended  their  explora 
tions  westward  along  the  Great  Lakes.  In  1673  two 
Frenchmen,  Joliet  and  Marquette,  penetrated  to  the  upper 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_  waters  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  and  in  1680 
Hennepin  discovered 
the  Falls  of  St.  An 
thony.  The  next  year 
Robert  Cavelier  de 
la  Salle  voyaged  down 
the  Mississippi  to  its 
mouth  and  returned 
again  to  the  French 
settlements  in  Can 
ada.  He  then  led 
a  French  colony  to 
occupy  the  region 
about  its  mouth,  but 
the  attempt  ended  in 
disaster. 

In  1699  another 
French  expedition 
appeared  off  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi.  Its  commander 
was  Iberville,  and  with  him  was  associated  Bienville,  who 
remained  in  the  colony  as  governor.  The  settlers  at  first 
landed  on  one  of  the  islands  to  the  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
but  later  they  moved  to  the  shores  of  Mobile  Bay.  Later 
still,  in  1718.  New  Orleans  was  founded.  To  counteract  this 
renewed  colonizing  activity  of  the  French  in  the  south,  the 
Spaniards  founded  the  town  of  Pensacola.  Louisiana,  as 


Pepperrell 


1763] 


Expulsion  of  the  French 


the  French  termed  this  southern  colony,  grew  very  slowly ; 
the  people  were  frequently  on  the  edge  of  starvation,  and 
they  were  attacked  by  the  Indians  as  the  French  never  were 
in  Canada.  In  time,  however,  settlements  were  made  higher 
up  the  river,  and  other  colonies  were  planted  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Missis 
sippi  system.  The 
next  step  was  to  unite 
Canada  and  Louisi 
ana  by  a  chain  of 
posts  extending  down 
the  Ohio  River.  This 
attempt  brought  on 
war  with  the  English, 
who  had  now  (1754) 
begun  to  direct  their 
attention  to  the  trade 
of  the  fertile  country 
immediately  west  of 
the  Alleghanies. 

105.  Expulsion  of 
the  French,  1754-63. 
—  The  building  of 
Fort  Duquesne  by  the 
French  at  the  conflu 
ence  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela  rivers  brought  mat 
ters  to  a  crisis  (1754).  The  English  in  Virginia  protested, 
and,  not  being  heeded,  sent  a  small  army  under  Colonel 
Washington  to  enforce  their  protest.  He  was  defeated  and 
forced  to  surrender.  From  this  beginning  the  conflict 
rapidly  enlarged  and  soon  became  merged  in  a  tremendous 
war  which  broke  out  in  Europe  in  1756  and  is  known 
in  history  as  the  Seven  Years'  War.  England  was  now  the 
ally  of  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia ;  against  them  was 
arrayed  the  mighty  power  of  France,  Spain,  and  Austria. 
This  conflict  made  many  military  reputations,  —  Frederick 
in  Europe,  Clive  in  India,  Wolfe  and  Amherst  in  America ; 


Bienville 


French  and 
Indian  War, 

1754-63. 

Parkman's 

Montcalm 

and  Wolfe  ; 

Winsor's 

America, 

V,  ch.  viii. 


n6 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History  [§  105 


Peace  of 
Paris,  1763. 
American 
History  Leaf 
lets,  No.  5 ; 
Hinsdale's 
Old  North 
west,  ch.  v, 
Maps,  pp. 
62  and  68. 


it  also  brought  to  power  the  greatest  war  minister  England 
has  ever  produced,  —  William  Pitt.  For  America  it  re 
sulted  in  the  retirement  of  the  French  from  the  continent 
of  North  America.  This  arrangement  was  embodied  in 
a  great  international  agreement  known  as  the  Peace  of 
Paris  of  1763.  By  this  treaty  France  ceded  to  Great  Britain 

all  her  possessions  in 
North  America  east  of 
the  Mississippi  and  of 
the  island  on  which 
New  Orleans  stands, 
with  the  exception  of 
two  small  islands  in 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Law 
rence.  Spain,  on  her 
part,  ceded  to  Great 
Britain  her  colony  of 
Florida  in  exchange 
for  Havana,  which  the 
English  had  occupied 
during  the  war.  To 
recompense  Spain  for 
this  loss,  France  ceded 
to  her  all  of  the  French  possessions  in  America  west  of  the 
Mississippi  and  also  the  island  on  which  New  Orleans 
stands.  The  treaties  further  provided  that  vessels  of 
Spain  and  Great  Britain  should  enjoy  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi.  Moreover,  it  was  agreed  that  the  French 
colonists  in  Canada  should  be  allowed  the  exercise  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  "  so  far  as  the  laws  of  Great 
Britain  permit."  The  British  monarch,  on  his  part,  gave 
up  his  claim  to  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  impor 
tance  of  this  settlement  in  the  history  of  the  English- 
American  colonists  can  hardly  be  overstated.  Relieved  of 
the  pressure  from  without,  which  they  had  manfully  with 
stood  for  so  many  years,  they  were  free  to  develop  their 
material  resources  and  to  protest  without  fear  of  foreign 


Wolfe 


1763]  The  Proclamation  0/1763  117 

attack  against  measures  of  the  British  government  which 
threatened  their  prosperity  or  their  free  institutions.  At 
once  the  English  authorities  made  arrangements  for  the 
government  of  its  new  dominions,  and  in  so  doing  trenched 
heavily  on  the  rights  of  at  least  three  of  the  colonies. 

1 06.    The  Proclamation  of  1763.  —  The  most  important   Royal  Proo 
and  pressing  need  was  to  make  provision  for  the  govern-   lamation 
ment  of  those  portions  of   the  new  dominions  that  were   American 
already  occupied  by  Europeans.     The  king  therefore  issued   History 
a  proclamation  (1763)  establishing  three  new  English  prov-   ^^ets>  ^ 
inces  :  Quebec,  and  East  and  West  Florida.     The  southern   Hinsdaie's 
boundary  of  Quebec  was  stated  to  be  the  forty-fifth  parallel    Old  Nor th- 
from  the  St.  Lawrence  River  to  the  highlands  which  sepa-   Q^ec'  VU1 
rate  "  the  rivers   that  empty  themselves  into  the  said  St.   1763. 
Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into  the  sea  "  and  along 
those  "highlands"  to  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs.     It  is  important 
to  note  this  line  with  care,  as  it  was  not  merely  the  southern 
boundary  of  Quebec  from  1 763  to  1 774  :  it  was  the  northern 
limit  of  the  English  colonies  when  they  became  independent 
states  (§  164). 

The  northern  boundary  of  the  Floridas  is  also  interesting,  The 
as  it  was  adopted  in  the  treaty  of  1783  to  describe  the  F1°ndas> 
southern  boundary  of  the  United  States  (§  164).  Leaving 
the  Mississippi  in  latitude  thirty-one,  the  line  followed  that 
parallel  to  the  Chattahoochee  River,  thence  down  that  stream 
to  its  junction  with  the  Flint ;  from  this  point  it  ran  in 
a  straight  line  to  the  source  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  down 
that  stream  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  Floridas  were  sepa 
rated  into  two  provinces  by  the  Chattahoochee,  or  Appa- 
lachieola,  as  it  was  called  after  its  confluence  with  the  Flint. 
The  boundary  of  West  Florida  was  pushed  farther  north  in 
the  commissions  issued  to  the  governors  of  that  province, 
to  include  within  its  limits  several  settlements  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  ;  this  line  was  the  parallel  (32°  30')  of  the  confluence 
of  the  Yazoo  and  Mississippi  from  the  latter  river  to  the 
Chattahoochee.  The  territory  between  East  Florida  and 
Georgia,  or  between  the  St.  Mary's  and  the  Altamaha, 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History  [§  106 


Georgia 
enlarged. 


which  up  to  this  time  had  been  regarded  as  a  portion  of 
South  Carolina,  was  now  added  to  Georgia.  Between  the 
Floridas  and  Quebec,  as  defined  in  the  proclamation,  there 
stretched  a  vast  region  inhabited  by  Indians,  with  a  few 
French  settlements  north  of  the  Ohio ;  this  was  for  the 


X-Z:  Southern  boundary  of  Que 
by  Proclamation  of  1763. 


English  Territory. 


]  Georgia  by  Charte 
Proclamation  of  1763 


rand    | 

N».    m 


East  Florida  by 
I  Proclamation  of  1763. 

West  Florida,  by 
Proclamation  of  1763. 


3  Added  to  West  Florida, 

Line  A-B  marks  western  limit  of 

Atlantic  Colonies  by 
Proclamation. 


Atlantic 
colonies 
confined  to 
seaboard. 


The  Proclamation  of  1763 

present  reserved  to  the  Indians  by  a  provision  of  the  proc 
lamation  which  forbade  the  governors  of  the  colonies  on 
the  seaboard  to  grant  lands  "  west  of  the  sources  of  rivers 
which  flow  into  the  Atlantic  from  the  west  and  northwest." 
This  territory  had  already  been  granted  by  the  king  to 
companies  or  individuals :  the  grantees  of  Virginia,  Caro 
lina,  Georgia,  Pennsylvania,  Connecticut,  and  Massachu 
setts.  The  rights  under  the  first  three  of  the  above  grants 
had  returned  to  the  crown.  The  king  could  do  what  he 
pleased  with  as  much  of  this  region  as  had  been  included 


1754]  The  Albany  Congress  119 

in  those  grants,  but  a  royal  proclamation  could  not  annul 
rights  derived  by  charter,  and  the  claims  of  Pennsylvania, 
Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts  remained  as  good  as  they 
had  ever  been. 

107.   The  Albany  Congress,  1754.  —  The  long  series  of    intercolonial 

wars  which  came  to  an  end  in  1763  had  tended  to  bring   Congress 

3    of  1754. 
the  several  English  colonies  together.     Frequently,  it  had   Fiske's 

been  necessary  to  take  combined  action  against  the  French   Revolution, 
and  their  Indian  allies,  and  conferences  had  been  held  from   VF^H- 
time   to  time  from   1684  onwards.     The   most   famous  of    ingham's 
these  meetings  was  the  one  held  at  Albany  in   1754,  and   RePubllc* 
known  as  the  Albany  Congress ;  but  the  word  "  congress," 
as  now  used  in  America,   is  inapplicable  :  it  was  rather  a 
conference  or  convention,  in  our  political  language.     The 
meeting   was    held   by  direction   of  the    British  Board  of 
Trade  and  Plantations ;    its  object  was  the   purchase  and 
settlement  of  lands  then  in  the  possession  of  the  natives, 
and  it  was  also  designed  to  provide  some  scheme  for  united 
action  in  the  event  of  another  war  with  the  French.     The   The  "Albany 
congress  adopted  a  Plan  of  Union,  always  known  as  the   Plan  ofit 
Albany   Plan,    which   was   the   work    mainly   of    Benjamin    (I7S4) 
Franklin,  one  of  the  delegates  from  Pennsylvania.     Many   American 
schemes  of  a  similar  nature  had  been  proposed  before  this,   *?lst°fyt 
but  none  had  received  an  official  sanction  such  as  the  Albany   KO.  14;' 
Congress  may  be  said  to  have  given  to  this  one;     Most  of    Old  Soutk 
the  earlier  projects  had  contemplated  the  grouping  of  the   Sgr   NO  9"' 
colonies   into    two   or    three    divisions ;    the   Albany   Plan 
provided   for  a  federation  of   all  the   colonies  for  certain 
specified  objects.     The  functions  of  the  federal  body  were 
mainly  advisory,  as  were  those  of  the  commissioners  of  the 
New  England  Confederation.     These  duties  were  to  be  per 
formed    by  a  President-General  appointed    by  the  crown, 
and  a  Grand  Council  elected  by  the  popular  branches  of  the 
several  colonial  assemblies.     The  weak  point  in  the  New 
England  Confederation   had  been    the  equal  vote  of  the 
several    colonies,    regardless    of   their    size   or    importance 
(p.  80)  ;  this  defect  was  now  remedied  by  apportioning  the 


120 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


[§  108 


Results  of 

Albany 

Congress. 


Numbers. 


members  of  the  Grand  Council  among  the  colonies  accord 
ing  to  "  the  proportion  of  money  arising  out  of  each  colony 
to  the  general  treasury."  The  plan  proved  distasteful  to  all 
parties  whose  consent  was  asked  to  it :  the  English  govern 
ment  dreaded  it,  as  stimulating  the  democratic  tendencies  of 
the  colonists ;  the  colonial  assemblies  unanimously  rejected 
it,  because  it  seemed  to  them  to  increase  the  power  of  the 
crown. 

The  Albany  Congress  was  an  important  step  in  the  pro 
cess  of  colonial  union,  because  many  of  the  leading  men 
from  the  different  colonies  met  together;  their  discussions 
increased  the  sense  of  the  common  interest,  and  aided  to 
diminish  the  prejudices  which  the  people  of  many  provinces 
felt  toward  their  fellow-subjects  in  other  colonies.  The 
French  wars,  by  bringing  soldiers  together  from  different 
parts  of  the  continent,  also  operated  in  the  same  direction. 
Moreover,  during  the  last  French  and  Indian  war,  Colonel 
Washington  of  Virginia  journeyed  northward  to  the  army 
headquarters  at  Boston,  to  lay  before  the  commander  in 
chief  the  complaints  of  colonial  officers  in  the  matter  of 
relative  rank  in  the  British  forces.  It  was  in  this  way  that 
his  striking  figure  and  dignified  presence  became  familiar 
to  the  people  of  the  Middle  Colonies  and  of  New  Eng 
land. 

108.  Statistics  of  Population,  1760.  —  In  1760  the 
English-American  colonists  numbered  about  one  million  six 
hundred  thousand  souls,  including  negroes,  both  slave  and 
free.  About  one  half  of  this  population  lived  on  either  side 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  (p.  99).  There  were  nearly  four 
hundred  thousand  negro  slaves  in  the  English  colonies, 
three  fourths  of  whom  lived  in  the  South.  In  this  way  it 
happened  that  the  white  population  of  the  colonies  south  of 
Pennsylvania  was  considerably  less  than  that  of  the  North. 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line  even  then  divided  the  country  into 
two  well-marked  sections  :  north  of  it  varied  industry  and 
free  labor  prevailed  ;  south  of  it  the  cultivation  of  one  or 
two  staples  by  forced  labor  was  the  rule. 


I76o] 


Negro  Slavery 


121 


109.  Negro  Slavery.  —  Slavery  existed  in  all  the  colonies, 
but  it  was  fast  dying  out  in  the  North,  although  there  does 
not  appear,  however,  to  have  been  any  widespread  sentiment 
against  it  in  that  section.  The  northern  slave  traders,  for 
instance,  were  among  the  most  substantial  men  of  their  time 
and  place.  A  few  persons  had  written  against  it,  notably 
Samuel  Sewall,  in  The  Selling  of  Joseph.  In  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  slavery  existed  to  a  limited  extent.  The  slaves 
were  treated  in  a  most  lenient  manner  in  both  these  colo 
nies,  except  in  two  instances,  when  the  fear  of  negro  up 
risings  produced  a  panic ;  many  were  then  unjustly  hanged 
or  branded,  and  one  was  broken  on  the  wheel. 

In  Pennsylvania  there  was  a  more  widespread  public  sen 
timent  against  the  institution  of  slavery  than  in  any  other 
colony,  as  the  Quakers  found  it  difficult  to  reconcile  the 
ownership  of  human  beings  with  the  principles  of  their 
religion.  Slavery  also  was  unsuited  to  the  agriculture  of 
that  province.  In  Delaware,  on  the  other  hand,  it  flourished 
and  endured  until  the  Civil  War. 

South  of  Pennsylvania  the  case  was  different.  Slaves 
formed  about  thirty  per  cent  of  the  population  of  Maryland, 
about  forty  per  cent  of  that  of  Virginia,  and  about  sixty  per 
cent  of  that  of  South  Carolina.  Only  recently  it  had  been 
legally  permitted  in  Georgia,  but  there  it  was  now  making 
rapid  advances.  In  North  Carolina  slaves  formed  a  smaller 
proportion  of  the  population  than  in  either  of  the  colonies 
on  its  borders  :  in  one  of  the  western  counties  of  that  prov 
ince,  it  has  been  said  that  no  slave  was  ever  owned.  Slavery 
was  less  suited  to  the  industries  of  North  Carolina  than  it 
was  to  those  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  settlers  of  the  western 
counties  resembled  the  small  farmers  of  the  North  in  their 
prejudices  and  sentiments. 

In  Maryland  and  Virginia  the  slaves,  as  a  rule,  were  well 
treated.  The  cultivation  of  tobacco  was  comparatively  easy, 
the  slaves  worked  under  the  eye  of  the  owner,  they  also 
labored  beside  the  white  servants,  who  formed  a  large  pro 
portion  of  the  working  element  in  the  colonies  on  Chesa- 


Slavery  in 
the  Northern 
colonies. 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
II,  189;  ibid. 
111,86. 


New  York 
Negro  Plot. 
*Chandler's 
Criminal 
Trials,  I, 
213-254- 


Slavery  in 
Maryland 
and  Virginia. 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
I,  No.  87. 


122 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History  [§  109 


In  South 
Carolina. 


White 
servants. 


peake  Bay.  The  slave  code,  in  so  far  as  it  regulated  meet 
ings,  the  possession  of  arms,  and  running  away,  was  severe, 
even  authorizing  the  dismemberment  of  a  slave  found  abroad 
at  night  without  a  license.  In  practice,  however,  the  treat 
ment  of  slaves  was  humane  in  both  these  provinces.  In  South 
Carolina  the  negroes  outnumbered  the  whites.  The  malarial 
climate  of  the  rice  swamps  induced  the  planters  to  seek  the 
sea  breezes  of  Charleston  during  a  large  part  of  the  year, 
while  the  negroes  on  the  rice  plantations  were  left  to  the 
oversight  of  a  white  superintendent  aided  by  black  slave 
drivers.  The  conditions  under  which  rice  was  cultivated 
were  harmful  to  the  negroes  also  :  the  labor  was  severe,  and 
the  slaves  became  rapidly  worn  out.  It  was  profitable,  there 
fore,  to  work  them  to  the  uttermost  during  their  season  of 
bodily  vigor.  Constant  supplies  of  new  slaves  were  neces 
sary,  and  these  were  procured  direct  from  Africa  in  northern 
and  in  English  slave  ships.  These  newcomers  were  less 
obedient  than  slaves  born  and  bred  in  America,  as  most  of 
those  in  Maryland  and  Virginia  were.  The  severity  of  the 
labor  and  the  wildness  of  the  negroes  led  to  constant  attempts 
on  their  part  to  escape  across  the  Savannah  River  to  the 
wilderness  of  Georgia,  and  eventually  to  Spanish  Florida. 
This  propensity  to  run  away  was  met  by  laws  offering  rewards 
for  the  arrest  or  destruction  of  the  fugitive  :  fifty  pounds  was 
given  to  the  captor  of  a  runaway,  if  brought  back  alive,  — 
ten  pounds  only  if  the  scalp  was  returned ;  these  rewards 
were  for  negroes  found  south  of  the  Savannah  River ;  the 
ordinary  amount  paid  for  a  negro's  scalp  was  one  pound. 
The  laws  were  necessarily  more  odious  in  South  Carolina 
than  in  Virginia  ;  but  the  main  difference  lay  not  so  much  in 
dissimilarity  of  laws  as  in  the  actual  treatment  of  the  slaves, 
which  could  be  much  milder  in  Virginia  than  in  South 
Carolina. 

no.  White  Servitude.  — White  persons,  bound  to  service 
for  a  term  of  years,  formed  an  important  element  in  many 
colonies,  especially  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia. 
Most  of  those  employed  in  Pennsylvania  were  Redemptioners, 


1760]  White  Servitude  123 

who  bound  themselves  to  serve  for  a  limited  time,  generally 
four  years,  to  pay  their  expenses  from  their  old  home  to  the 
New  World.  They  were  usually  of  a  good  class  of  immigrants, 
and  after  the  end  of  their  time  of  service  became  farmers  and 
were  merged  in  the  white  population  of  the  colony. 

In  the  provinces  on  Chesapeake  Bay,  however,  the  con-  Convicts  in 
ditions  of  white  servitude  were  not  so  favorable.  There 
many  of  the  white  servants  were  convicts  transported  from 
England  and  bound  out  to  service  for  long  terms  of  years. 
This  traffic  was  carried  on  by  authority  of  acts  of  Parliament 
passed  in  the  eighteenth  century,  which  permitted  a  convict 
to  ask  in  open  court  to  have  his  sentence  commuted,  in  the 
case  of  the  death  penalty,  to  fourteen  years'  service,  while 
whipping  and  branding  might  be  commuted  by  seven  years' 
service ;  in  either  case,  return  to  England  before  expiration 
of  term  of  service  was  punishable  with  death.  The  people 
of  Virginia  and  Maryland  strongly  objected  to  this  inroad  of 
criminals,  and  sought  to  limit  the  evil  by  passing  laws  re 
stricting  their  importation.  These  laws,  however,  as  well  as 
those  limiting  the  slave  trade,  were  either  annulled  or  vetoed 
by  the  king,  as  being  contrary  to  acts  of  Parliament. 

in.  Religion. — The  religious  life  of  the  inhabitants  of  Religion: 
the  several  colonies  was  largely  determined  by  the  conditions  T1?e 
of  settlement.  These  have  already  been  mentioned;  but  church, 
other  considerations  had  profoundly  affected  religion,  and  it 
will  be  well  to  examine  briefly  the  actual  state  of  affairs  in 
1 760.  The  Church  of  England  was  completely  established 
by  law  in  only  one  colony,  —  Maryland.  No  matter  what 
their  religious  preferences  were,  all  taxpayers  in  that  province 
were  compelled  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  minister 
of  the  Established  Church.  In  the  Carolinas  the  church 
was  recognized  by  law  as  the  state  church,  but  there  was 
complete  toleration  for  all  Christians  in  those  colonies.  The 
church  was  also  established  in  Virginia,  but  its  management 
was  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  planters.  The  Church  of 
England  was  weak  in  the  Northern  colonies,  except  in  New 
York,  where  it  was  steadily  gaining  strength. 


124 


A   Century  of  Colonial  History 


New 
England 
Congrega- 
tionalists. 
*Stedman 
and    - 

Hutchinson, 
II,  373-411- 


In  New  England,  save  in  Rhode  Island,  the  Congregational 
Church  was  cherished  by  colonial  laws,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  actual  management  of  religion  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  local  religious  authorities.  The  New  England  clergy,  of 
whom  Jonathan  Edwards  is  the  best  example,  formed  a  caste 
almost  as  completely  as  did  the  Virginia  planters.  In  Penn 
sylvania  and  Rhode  Island  religion  was  absolutely  free.  In 
other  colonies  there  was  a  species  of  toleration  for  Protes 
tants,  but,  except  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Roman  Catholics  were 
everywhere  debarred  from  civil  rights  or  subjected  to  severe 
penalties. 

As  the  century  advanced,  the  Protestant  dissenters  be 
came  more  and  more  numerous  in  the  Old  Dominion. 
Alarmed  at  this  turn  of  affairs,  the  rulers  of  the  colony  made 
stringent  laws  against  them,  but  in  1760  probably  nearly  one 
half  of  the  white  population  of  Virginia  was  outside  of  the 
Established  Church.  The  weakness  of  the  church  was  due 
in  part  to  the  poor  character  of  many  of  its  ministers.  In 
these  circumstances  it  seemed  very  desirable  that  an  Ameri 
can  bishop  should  be  appointed  who  could  exercise  much 
more  effective  control  than  the  far-off  Bishop  of  London. 
As  often  as  this  plan  was  proposed,  it  was  defeated.  The 
American  clergy  did  not  want  a  bishop  near  at  hand,  nor 
did  the  laymen,  especially  in  Virginia,  desire  to  give  up  the 
control  which  they  exercised  over  the  clergy  of  the  several 
parishes.  The  members  of  the  dissenting  faiths  were  filled 
with  alarm  :  their  ancestors  had  fled  from  England  to  avoid 
the  control  exercised  by  bishops  and  it  was  of  slight 
use  to  inform  them  that  an  American  bishop  would  have 
only  such  civil  power  as  the  laws  of  each  colony  might  give 
him.  They  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  their  fellow-dissenters 
in  England,  and  no  bishop  was  ever  appointed.  The  Revo 
lution  did  away  with  the  authority  of  English  law  in  the 
United  States,  and  at  once  all  objections  to  the  appointment 
of  bishops  were  removed  (p.  228). 

112.  Education.  —  Throughout  New  England,  except  in 
Rhode  Island,  provision  was  made  for  the  teaching  of  read- 


1760]  Religion  12$ 

ing,  writing,  and  elementary  mathematics,  and  the  larger 
towns  generally  provided  instruction  of  a  sufficiently  ad 
vanced  grade  to  fit  students  for  the  New  England  colleges. 
The  Dutch  had  provided  educational  facilities  in  connection 
with  their  religious  establishments,  and  this  latter  feature 
proved  to  be  fatal  to  them  after  the  English  conquest. 
There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  provision  for  gen 
eral  public  instruction  in  New  York  in  1760.  In  New  Jer 
sey  and  Pennsylvania,  the  Quakers  and  the  Presbyterians 
endeavored  to  educate  the  young.  In  Maryland  there  were  a 
few  schools  supported  by  general  taxation,  but  they  exerted 
slight  influence.  The  Virginians  from  time  to  time  had  en 
deavored  to  relieve  their  colony  of  the  reproach  contained 
in  the  well-known  boast  of  the  old  royalist  governor,  Sir 
William  Berkeley,  that  he  "  thanked  God  there  were  no  free 
schools  "  in  the  province.  Their  efforts  do  not  seem  to  have 
led  to  tangible  results,  for  the  whole  life  of  Virginia  was  op 
posed  to  general  education.  The  children  of  well  to  do 
parents  received  instruction  at  the  hands  of  a  private  tutor 
or  of  the  parish  clergyman  ;  those  who  could  not  afford  to  pay 
for  private  tuition  for  their  children  taught  them  as  well  as 
they  could.  William  and  Mary  College  was  not  unlike  an 
English  public  school  of  that  time,  and  it  furnished  the  Vir 
ginians  of  the  richer  class  with  a  good  education.  Many 
Virginians  were  good  classical  scholars,  and  many  more  had 
studied  deeply  the  constitutional  history  of  England.  There 
was  not  a  public  educational  institution  of  any  kind  south  of 
Virginia ;  but  the  Carolina  planters  were  well  educated, 
having  attended  colleges  in  the  north  or  institutions  of  learn 
ing  in  England. 

There  were  then  some  half  dozen  colleges  or  universities  The 
in  the  colonies:    Harvard,  Yale,  King's   (Columbia),  New  colleges- 
Jersey   (Princeton),  Pennsylvania,  and  William  and  Mary. 
Their   scheme   of    education   was   largely    framed   for   the 
training  of  clergymen  of  one  faith  or  another.     None  of 
them  was  much  above  the  grade  of  a  high  school  of  the 
present  day,  but  they  performed  a  useful  service  in  keep- 


126  A   Century  of  Colonial  History  [§  112 

ing  alive  a  love  of  learning.  Only  one  of  them  can  be 
regarded  as  a  place  of  scientific  education ;  this  was  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  which  had  been  founded  by 
Franklin.  Organized  on  a  liberal  basis,  it  grew  rapidly, 
and  in  five  years  after  its  beginning  had  four  hundred 
students  on  its  rolls. 

Law  and  Medical  education  was   beginning   to   attract   attention, 

medicine.  but  the  only  profession  which  vied  with  that  of  the 
clergy  was  the  law.  Its  rise  belongs  almost  entirely  to 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  it  was  the  generation  which 
brought  about  the  separation  from  England  that  gave  the 
legal  profession  its  high  standing.  It  is  surprising  to 
note  how  many  men  who  were  prominent  in  this  great 
movement  were  lawyers :  James  Otis,  John  Adams, 
Stephen  Hopkins,  Roger  Sherman,  John  Jay,  Thomas 
McKean,  Patrick  Henry,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  the  Rut- 
ledges,  to  mention  no  others.  They  gave  to  the  period 
of  the  Revolution  a  legal  aspect  which  has  ever  since 
been  one  of  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  Ameri 
can  politics. 

SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 
§§  78-83.    NEW  ENGLAND,  1660-64 

a.  Give  a  brief  sketch  of  English  history,  1660-1760. 

b.  Place  in  a  note-book,  as  a  heading,  "  England's  Commercial  Pol 
icy,"  and  enter  under  it  all  fitting  information  as  you  proceed. 

c.  Compare  the  commercial  policy  of  England  at  different  periods 
with  that  of  the  United  States  to-day. 

d.  Compare  the  policy  of  Massachusetts  as  to  the  Quakers  with  that 
of  the  United  States  as  to  immigrants  at  the  present  time. 

§§  86-90.    PENNSYLVANIA 

a.  Place  in   note-book,  as   heading,  "Mason  and  Dixon's   line," 
and  enter  all  fitting  information  as  you  proceed. 

b.  Compare  the  government  of  Pennsylvania  under  the  charter  of 
1701  with  that  of  Massachusetts,  of  Connecticut,  of  Virginia,  and  of 
Carolina  at  the  same  time. 


Questions  and  Topics  127 

§§  91-92.  THE  CAROLINAS 

a.  Compare  the  settlement  of  Charleston  with  that  of  Byzantium. 

b.  Compare  ''colonial  life  "  in  Charleston,  in  Boston,  in  Philadel 
phia,  in  Williamsburg,  and  in  New  York. 

§§  93~9^«    VIRGINIA 

a.  Justify  from  the  text  the  byword,  "  ungrateful  as  a  Stuart." 

b.  Compare  the  treatment  and  the  actions  of  the  Virginians  and  of 
the  Massachusetts  men  in  the  years  1660-76.     Which  group  of  colo 
nists  showed  the  greater  political  sagacity?     Prove  your  statement. 

c.  Find  out  all  you  can  about  the  early  years  of  Harvard  College, 
of  Yale  College,  and  of  William  and  Mary  College. 

§§  97-100,  102,  103.  CONSTITUTIONAL  STRUGGLES 

a.  Show  by  recital  of  events  that  an  identical  struggle  was  going  on 
in  England  and  in  the  colonies.     What  was  the  nature  of  this  struggle  ? 
Describe  the  government  established  in  Massachusetts  under  Andros. 

b.  Contrast  the  Dominion  of  New  England  with  the  New  England 
Confederation  and  the  plan  proposed  by  the  Albany  Congress. 

§§  99-108.  THE  COLONIES,  1688-1760 

a.  State  carefully  the  effect  of  the  glorious  Revolution  upon  each 
colony  separately,  and  its  general  influence  upon  the  fortunes  of  English 
America. 

b.  Compare  the  steady  growth  in  the  power  of  representative  legis 
lative  bodies  in  the  colonies  and  in  England  from  1688-1760,  and  give 
the  causes  in  each  case. 

c.  In  the  quarrels  with  the  royal  governors,  what  important  princi 
ple  was  at  stake  ?     What  effect  upon  these  quarrels  would  the  appoint 
ment  of  the  treasurer  by  the  Assembly  have  ? 

§  100.   GEORGIA 

a.  Compare  Oglethorpe's  colony  of  Georgia  with  Penn's  colony  of 
Pennsylvania. 

b.  What  matter  in  this  section  should  be  entered  under  "Negro 
Slavery  "  ? 

§§  103-107.  WARS 

a.  Give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  reigns  of  Louis  XIV  and  Louis  XV. 

b.  Place  in  note-book,  as  heading,  "Important  Treaties,"  noting  in 
each  case:    (i)  date,  (2)   the  concluding  powers,  (3)  why  important 
—  note  especially  boundary  provisions,  (4)  how  long  observed,  (5)  how 
conditions  to-day  are  affected  by  it. 


128  A   Century  of  Colonial  History 

c.  Review  history  of  Acadia ;   compare  Acadians  as  described  by 
Parkman  and  by  Longfellow. 

d.  Consider  the  wars  mentioned  in  these  sections,  so  far  as  they 
related  to  America,  under  the  following  heads  :   (i)  causes  ;    (2)  occa 
sion  ;    (3)    strength   of  the  combatants  ;    (4)    preliminaries  to  actual 
struggle  ;    (5)  military  operations  —  briefly;    (6)  results  of  war,  (a)  po 
litical,  especially  geographical,  representing  them  in  colors  upon  Outline 
Map,  (£)  moral  ;    (7)  importance  in  history  of  the  world. 

e.  In  what  way  did  this  war  contribute  to  bring  about  the  American 
Revolution  ? 

§  107.  THE  ALBANY  CONGRESS 

a.  What  was  the  greatest  weakness  in  the  Albany  plan  ? 

b.  Why  was  it  rejected  ?     Give  your  reasons  in  full. 

§§  108-112.   GENERAL  VIEW  OF  COLONIAL  CONDITIONS 

a.  What   matter  in   §   no  should  be  entered  in  note-book  under 
"  Negro  Slavery  "  ?     Why  ? 

b.  What  matter  in  these  sections  should  be  entered  under  "  Power 
of  Congress"  ? 

c.  Show  the  preparation  in  colonial  times  for  the  later  separation 
of  Church  and  State. 

d.  Seek  the  educational  statistics  of  the  United  States  and  describe 
the  educational  condition  of  each  region  mentioned  in  §  1 1 2.     Do  the 
same  relative  differences  exist  in  both  epochs  ?     Give  your  reasons. 

e.  As  you  advance,  prove  the  truth  of  the  statement  on  p.  126,  "a 
legal  aspect  .  .  .  American  politics."     Place  it  as  heading  in  note-book. 
Is  it  true  to-day  ? 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

a.  Upon  two  Outline  Maps  represent  in  colors  the  different  Euro 
pean  possessions  in  North  America  (a)  before  the  Peace  of  Paris  and 
(£)  after  that  settlement. 

b.  Represent  in  colors  upon  an  Outline   Map  the  English  king's 
division  of  his  American  possessions  in   1763. 

c.  Represent  in  colors  upon  an  Outline  Map  the  territory  between 
the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi  as  divided  between  the  king,  Penn 
sylvania,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts  in  1763. 

d.  Make  the  necessary  changes  in  your  maps  on  Territorial  History 
and  in  the  map  of  your  own  state. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.   Give  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  English  colonies  in  1760,  noting: 
(i)  geographical  extent  of  each  colony  ;    (2)  distribution  of  popula- 


Questions  and  Topics 


tion  ;    (3)    slaves   and   servants  ;    (4)    institutions    (a)    derived   from 
England,  (b}  adopted  from  other  sources  or  invented. 

b.  Trace   colonial  institutions  towards   division   of  powers,  limited 
power   of  legislative   bodies.      Contrast   with    contemporary    English 
development    towards    centralization    of   power,    supremacy    of   Par 
liament. 

c.  Make  digest  of  chapter  in  recitation  hour. 

d.  Review  all  subjects  in  note-book  and  prepare  each  as  a  con 
tinuous  recitation. 

e.  Let  written  recitations  be  demanded  pn  any  points  touched  in 
the  questions. 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 
(See  note  under  this  head  on  p.  48.) 

a.  A  summary  of  the  Navigation  Ordinances  and  Acts  (90,  last  one 
of  second  group). 

b.  The  trials  of  the  Quakers  (91,  second  group). 

c.  Bacon's  Rebellion  (104,  last  two  of  first  group). 

d.  The  causes  of  King  Philip's  War  (104,  last  one  of  third  group) 
and  top  of  105. 

e.  Was  Leisler  a  rebel  (107,  second  group)  ? 

/    La  Salle's  Mississippi  exploration  (114,  second  group). 
g.    Plans  of  Union,  1643-1754  (119,  second  group). 


CHAPTER   IV 

INTERCOLONIAL  UNION,    1760-1774 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Fiske's  War  of  Independence,  39-86  ;  Hig- 
ginson's  Larger  History,  223-249 ;  Winsor's  America,  VI,  1-62 ; 
Lodge's  English  Colonies,  476-494.  On  this  period  in  England^  Gar 
diner's  Student's  History,  765-782,  or  Higginson  and  Channing's 
English  History  for  Americans. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Sloane's  French  War  and  the  Revohttion, 
116-191  ;  Greene's  Historical  View;  Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Re 
public;  Fiske's  American  Revolution;  *Lecky's  England,  III,  ch. 
xii  ;  *Bancroft's  United  States;  *Hildreth's  United  States;  Roose 
velt's  Winning  of  the  West;  Larned's  History  for  Ready  Reference, 
under  United  States  and  the  several  states. 

Sources.  —  Local  Records  and  Histpnes,  Guide,  §133;  Biogra 
phies,  Giiide,  §  135,  especially  Tudor's  Otis ;  Hutchinson's  Massachu 
setts  ;  Henry's  Patrick  Henry ;  Niles's  Principles  and  Acts;  *Force's 
American  Archives;  Hart's  Contemporaries;  American  History  Leaflets. 

Maps.  —  Hart's  Epoch  Maps,  No.  5  ;  Mac  Coun's  Historical  Geog 
raphy ;  Winsor's  America,  VI. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a  and  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  133-136  (Topics  and 
References). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  Lossing's  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution  ; 
Adams's  Three  Episodes ;  Part on's  Jefferson  and  Franklin;  Schouler's 
Jefferson  (M.A.)  ;  Seeley's  Expansion  of  England ;  *Merivale's  Colo 
nization  ;  Tyler's  American  Literature  ;  *Baird's  Huguenot  Emigra 
tion  ;  Ann  Maury's  Ihiguenot  Family  ;  John  Adams's  Diary  ;  Winsor's 
Memorial  History  of  Boston;  Wilson's  Memorial  History  of  New 
York;  Egle's  Pennsylvania;  Scharf's  Philadelphia  and  Maryland; 
Campbell's  Virginia;  Jones's  Georgia;  Weeden's  Economic  and 
Social  History  of  New  England ;  Mahon's  England,  ch.  xliii  ;  Hos- 
mer's  Samuel  Adams  (S.  S.) ;  *  Ford's  True  George  Washington,  and 
his  Many-sided  Franklin;  Franklin's  Autobiography;  Tyler's  Patrick 

130 


1760]  Change  in  British  Policy  131 

Henry  (S.S.);  Hosmer's  Thomas  Hutchinson  ;  Mrs.  Child's  The  Rebels  ; 
Cooke's  Virginia  (A.  C.);  Yoiith  of  Jefferson;  Fairfax ;  Doctor  Van 
dyke;  Hawthorne's  Septimius  Felton ;  Sedgwick's  The  Linwoods ; 
Bynner's  Agnes  Surriage ;  Longfellow's  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn; 
Irving's  Life  of  Washington  (abridged  ed.) ;  Parkman's  Conspiracy  of 
Pontiac  ;  Thompson's  Green  Mountain  Boys. 


INTERCOLONIAL  UNION,    1760-1774 

113.    Change  in  the  Colonial  Policy  of  Britain.  —  In  the   The  colonies 
forty  years  between  1720  and  1760  there  had  been  incessant  ^nf  Bntajn 

*  ;  before  1760. 

political  strife  between  the  colonists  and  the  representatives  *winsor's 
of  the  British  government.  These  disputes  had  been  essen-  America, 
dally  local  and  personal, —  in  regard  to  such  matters  as  the  Fis'ke?~  ' 
taxation  of  proprietaries'  lands,  the  extension  of  the  fran-  Revolution, 
chise,  the  importation  of  convicts,  the  raising  of  troops,  T>  I~6- 
the  issue  of  paper  money,  the  organization  of  banks  on 
insecure  foundations,  and  the  establishment  of  courts  of 
law.  Generally  the  opposition  of  the  colonists  had  taken 
the  form  of  a  refusal  to  vote  money  for  salaries  or  for  sol 
diers  until  their  demands  were  complied  with;  but  some 
times,  as,  for  example,  in  the  dispute  over  the  taxation  of 
proprietaries'  lands  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  establishment 
of  a  religious  test  for  voting  in  South  Carolina,  the  colo 
nists  had  carried  the  matter  to  England  and  had  won  their 
point;  in  other  cases  the  home  government  had  inter 
fered  and  had  forbidden  the  colonists  to  do  what  they 
wished,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Massachusetts  land-banks.  But 
no  serious  opposition  had  been  aroused,  probably  because 
the  colonists  felt  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  British 
government;  this  feeling  was  due  to  the  prudent  colonial 
policy  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole  and  his  immediate  successors. 
They  were  mainly  interested  in  securing  the  safe  establish 
ment  of  the  monarchs  of  the  House  of  Hanover  on  the 
throne  of  England,  and  had  carefully  avoided  all  measures 
which  seemed  likely  to  arouse  opposition  at  home  or  in 
the  colonies. 

In    1760  George  III   ascended    the    throne.       Born   in 


132 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§"4 


George  III 
and  his 
policy. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 

38-45; 

*Frothing- 

ham's 

Republic, 

158-166. 


Restrictions 
on  trade  and 
manufac 
tures. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  7-10. 


England,  he  was  ambitious  to  rule  well  and  to  regain  for 
the  monarchy  the  power  which  the  kings  had  once  wielded 
in  the  state.  The  execution  of  this  project  brought  about 
the  fall  of  the  old  governing  aristocracy  and  the  employ 
ment  of  inferior  men,  who  would  do  their  master's  bidding. 
They  heedlessly  adopted  a  policy  from  which  Walpole  had 
recoiled.  The  opposition  championed  the  cause  of  the 
colonists,  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  king's  power  in 
Britain  became  inextricably  bound  up  with  the  mainte 
nance  of  his  authority  in  the  colonies.  These  considera 
tions  will  enable  the  student  of  the  revolutionary  epoch 
to  understand  more  clearly  the  history  of  that  memorable 
period.  The  first  conflict,  however,  arose  out  of  an  attempt 
to  enforce  the  Navigation  Acts,  and  the  impulse  to  this 
movement  was  given  by  William  Pitt. 

114.  The  Colonial  System,  1688-1760.  — The  principal 
features  of  the  colonial  system  before  the  Revolution  of 
1688  have  been  already  traced  (p.  90).  From  that  time 
restrictions  were  gradually  increased,  and  the  list  of  enu 
merated  goods  was  constantly  enlarged.  On  the  other 
hand,  bounties  and  premiums  were  provided  for  the  en 
couragement  of  the  production  of  commodities  for  which 
the  colonies  were  well  suited. 

Restrictions  were  also  laid  on  colonial  manufactures 
which  were  likely  to  come  into  competition  with  English 
interests.  The  earliest  of  these  laws  was  passed  in  1699;  it 
prohibited  the  exportation  of  wool  or  any  manufacture  of 
wool  from  any  American  colony  to  any  other  colony,  to 
Great  Britain,  or  to  any  foreign  country.  Subsequently, 
an  attempt  was  made  to  limit  the  iron  industry  of  the  colo 
nies  to  the  production  of  crude  iron  alone;  all  the  later 
stages  of  its  manufacture  were  to  be  performed  in  Britain. 
Adam  Smith,  England's  greatest  economist,  wrote  of  this 
part  of  the  colonial  system,  that  it  was  "  a  manifest  viola 
tion  of  the  most  sacred  rights  of  mankind."  Regarding 
the  system  as  a  whole,  it  is  impossible  to  say  that  it  was 
to  the  disadvantage  of  the  colonists:  it  is  true  that  the 


1760]         Difficulties  in  Enforcing  the  Laws          133 

Virginians  were  forbidden  to  ship  their  tobacco  to  a  foreign 
port,  but  they  were  given  a  monopoly  of  the  British  tobacco 
markets;  the  New  England  shipowners  could  not  legally 
engage  in  foreign  trade,  but  they  enjoyed  a  share  in  the 
monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  British  Empire; 
the  South  Carolinians  could  not  ship  their  rice  to  Euro 
pean  ports  north  of  Cape  Finisterre,  but  they  were  paid 
a  large  bounty  on  all  the  rice  they  exported. 

The  act  which  might   have  inflicted   hardship  was  the   The  Sugar 
"  Sugar  Act  "  of  1 733.     This  law  provided  for  the  collection   Act>  I733' 
of  high  duties  on  foreign  sugar,  molasses,  or  rum  imported 
into  any  colonial  port  on  the  continent  of  North  America. 
Had  this  been  carried  out,  it  would  have  brought  disaster 
to  New  England,  as  the  African  trade  of  that  section  de 
pended  on  a  supply  of  cheap   molasses,  which  was   made 
into  rum  and  then   exchanged  on   the  Guinea   coast   for 
slaves,  gold,  and  palm  oil. 

115.  Difficulties  in  Enforcing  the  Laws.  —  It  proved  to  Opposition 
be  well-nigh  impossible  to  enforce  these  laws.  The  New  of  the  New 
Englanders,  who  were  mainly  concerned  in  their  evasion, 
were  hostile  to  them,  and  the  royal  customs  officials  in  the 
colonies  found  that  the  easiest  road  to  the  acquisition  of 
wealth  lay  in  combining  with  the  importers  :  collectors  of 
customs  in  the  English  West  Indies  granted  fraudulent 
clearances,  which  were  accepted  by  the  collectors  of  cus 
toms  in  the  New  England  ports,  and  merchants  were  per 
mitted  to  discharge  vessels  laden  with  dutiable  goods  in 
the  absence  of  the  customs  officials. 

During  the  last  war  with  France,  northern  merchants  en 
gaged  in  an  unpatriotic  and  illegal  trade  with  the  French, 
supplying  their  posts  with  provisions.  Pitt  ordered  the 
customs  officials  to  do  their  duty,  and,  by  a  display  of  zeal, 
they  endeavored  to  atone  for  their  former  laxity.  It  was 
found  to  be  most  difficult  to  carry  out  Pitt's  instructions: 
it  was  not  easy  to  seize  goods  on  which  no  duty  had  been 
paid;  it  was  practically  impossible  to  secure  a  conviction 
from  a  colonial  jury. 


134 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§  "6 


Search 
warrants. 


Writs  of 
assistance. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  ii- is. 


The  ordinary  method  to  secure  the  seizure  of  suspected 
goods  was  to  issue  a  search  warrant.  This  warrant  em 
powered  the  person  named  in  it  to  go  to  a  designated  place 
and  seize  certain  goods  therein  deposited,  which  on  the 
information  of  some  person  named  in  the  warrant  were 
believed  to  be  smuggled.  The  document  was  afterwards 
deposited  in  the  records  of  the  court,  with  a  statement  of 
what  had  been  done  in  accordance  with  its  provisions. 
In  this  way  the  name  of  the  informer  became  known;  and 
in  a  community  where  the  general  sentiment  was  one  of 
fierce  opposition  to  the  enforcement  of  these  laws,  he  was 
sure  to  be  dealt  with  most  severely,  and  other  persons  who 
might  be  willing  to  inform  were  likely  to  be  frightened  into 
silence.  The  owners  of  suspected  goods  also  received  early 
notice  of  an  intended  seizure,  and  removed  them  to  another 
warehouse  or  across  the  street.  The  customs  officials  were 
powerless,  as  the  warrant  authorized  them  to  seize  only  par 
ticular  goods  in  a  stated  place. 

1 1 6.  Writs  of  Assistance,  1761. — To  avoid  these  com 
plications,  the  customs  officers  armed  themselves  with  a 
species  of  warrant  called  a  "writ  of  assistance,"  that  author 
ized  them  to  seize  any  goods  which  they  suspected  to  be 
smuggled,  wherever  found.  This  power  might  easily  be 
misused  for  purposes  of  personal  revenge  and  undoubtedly 
was  so  abused.  The  first  warrants  were  issued  by  Governor 
Shirley  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  no  authority  to  grant 
them.  Accordingly,  in  1761,  the  customs  officers  applied  to 
the  Superior  Court  for  new  warrants.  The  king's  advocate 
in  the  province  at  that  time  was  James  Otis,  an  ardent,  able, 
and  patriotic  man.  He  resigned  his  office,  and  appeared 
for  the  merchants  of  Boston  in  opposition  to  the  issuance  of 
the  writs.  He  made  a  speech  which  had  great  effect  upon 
the  popular  mind,  and  is  often  and  rightly  regarded  as  the 
first  act  in  the  American  Revolution.  Unfortunately,  it  has 
been  preserved  only  in  the  form  of  fragmentary  notes  taken 
by  John  Adams,  then  a  student  of  law  at  Boston. 

The  matter  really  turned  on  narrow  technical  points  which 


i76i] 


Writs  of  Assistance 


135 


James  Otis 


need  not  be  mentioned  here.  Otis  based  his  argument  on 
the  abstract  grounds  of  the  rights  of  the  colonists  as  English 
men.  The  use  of  writs  of  assistance,  he  argued,  was  an  act 
of  tyranny  similar  to  the  abuse  of  power  which  had  "  cost 
one  king  of  England  his 
head,  another  his  throne." 
It  was  not  to  the  point  that 
these  writs  were  authorized 
by  an  act  of  Parliament, 
because  Parliament  could 
not  legalize  tyranny ;  such 
an  act  would  be  against 
the  constitution,  and  con 
sequently  void.  This  argu 
ment  was  in  line  with  the 
teaching  of  Coke  and  of  the 
earlier  law  writers,  but  since 
their  time  Parliament  had 
become  the  supreme  power 
in  the  state.  Otis's  argument,  however  weak  in  point  of  law, 
was  in  harmony  with  the  ideas  then  prevalent  in  America. 
Some  months  later,  the  writs  were  granted  by  the  court,  but 
were  seldom,  if  ever,  used.  In  1 767  their  issue  was  declared 
to  be  legal  by  a  special  act  of  Parliament.  The  only  remedy 
in  the  hands  of  the  colonists  was  resistance  by  armed  force, 
and  for  that  few  colonists  as  yet  were  prepared. 

117.  Otis's  Rights  of  the  Colonies,  1764. — A  few  years 
later  Otis  embodied  his  ideas  of  the  rights  of  the  colonists 
.in  two  essays,  entitled  :  A  Vindication  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  and  The  Rights  of  the  Colonies  Asserted  and 
Proved.  His  arguments  in  these  papers  are  mainly  a  mere 
restatement  of  the  ground  assumed  by  Locke  in  his  Essay 
on  Government.  Otis  asserted  that  "  God  made  all  men 
naturally  equal,"  and  that  government  was  instituted  for 
the  benefit  of  the  governed  :  it  followed  that  if  a  govern 
ment  were  harmful  to  the  people,  it  should  be  opposed 
and  destroyed ;  the  colonists  were  on  a  footing  of  com- 


Otis's 

speech. 

American 

History 

Leaflets, 

No.  33. 


Otis's   essays 
on  govern 
ment. 
*Frothing- 
ham's 
Republic, 
168-170. 


136 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§118 


plete  equality  with  the  subjects  of  the  king  living  in 
Great  Britain.  In  conclusion,  however,  Otis  admitted  the 
supremacy  of  the  British  Parliament,  and  thus  denied  the 
logical  conclusion  of  his  argument.  Patrick  Henry,  of 
Virginia,  had  no  such  scruples,  and  in  his  speech  on  the 
Parson's  Cause  he  stated  the  theory  of  colonial  rights  in  its 
complete  form. 


The  Parson's 
Cause,  1763. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
I,  18 ;  Hart's 
Contempora 
ries,  II,  No. 
37- 


Patrick  Henry 

118.  The  Parson's  Cause,  1763. — This  celebrated  case 
arose  out  of  the  exercise  by  the  king  of  the  power  to  veto 
acts  of  the  Virginia  Assembly.  The  salaries  of  the  clergy 
men  of  that  province  were  estimated  and  paid  in  tobacco, 
which  was  the  ordinary  currency  of  the  Old  Dominion. 
The  price  of  tobacco  varied  greatly  from  year  to  year, 
with  the  result  that  payments  which  were  agreed  upon  in 
years  of  plenty,  when  tobacco  was  cheap,  were  made  with 


1763]  The  Parsons  Cause  137 

difficulty  in  years  of  scarcity,  when  it  was  high  in  price. 
To  avoid  the  hardships  wrought  by  this  varying  medium 
of  exchange,  the  Virginia  legislature  from  time  to  time 
had  passed  laws  providing  that  all  debts  —  including  sums 
owing  to  clergymen  —  might  be  satisfied  by  the  payment  of 
money  representing  the  average  price  of  tobacco.  There 
had  been  several  acts  permitting  this  arrangement,  which, 
it  must  be  understood,  equally  affected  all  classes.  The 
clergy  felt  aggrieved,  however,  and  appealed  to  the  English 
government.  On  their  representations  the  king  annulled 
a  law  passed  in  1758,  when  tobacco  was  very  high,  to  the 
effect  that  debts  estimated  in  tobacco  might  be  satisfied  by 
a  money  payment  at  so  many  pence  per  pound,  the  rate 
representing  the  average  price  of  that  commodity  for  the 
preceding  years.  The  dispute  was  further  complicated  by 
the  demand  of  the  British  government  that  no  law  repeal 
ing  or  modifying  a  law  then  in  force  should  be  passed 
without  a  clause  suspending  its  operation  until  the  king's 
pleasure  were  known.  This  requirement  undoubtedly 
worked  great  hardship,  as  the  British  government  acted 
very  slowly  in  colonial  matters:  oftentimes  the  evil  which 
a  law  was  designed  to  remedy  would  produce  its  ill  effects 
before  the  consent  of  the  home  authorities  could  be  ob 
tained. 

Many  church  authorities  did  not  heed  the  king's  veto  of  Action  of 
the  act  of  1758,  and  paid  their  ministers  in  money  accord-  virg'nians- 
ing  to  the  provisions  of  the  annulled  law.  The  clergymen 
brought  the  matter  before  the  courts,  and  the  case  of  one 
of  their  number,  Maury  by  name,  was  selected  as  a  test 
case.  The  court  decided  that  the  action  of  the  parish 
authorities  was  illegal,  and  that  Maury  could  recover;  the 
only  question  about  which  there  was  any  further  dispute, 
was  in  regard  to  the  amount  to  be  recovered.  The  case  had 
reached  this  point,  and  everything  indicated  the  triumph 
of  the  clergymen,  when  the  parish  authorities  employed 
Patrick  Henry  to  address  the  jury.  Henry  was  a  most 
industrious  young  lawyer;  he  had  received  a  good  educa- 


138 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§  "9 


Henry's 
speech. 
Tyler's  Pat 
rick  Henry 
(S.S.).ch.iv. 


Pontiac's 
Rebellion. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  688-701. 


tion,  was  well  read,  and  had  been  allowed  to  practice  law 
because  of  his  knowledge  of  English  legal  history. 

Putting  aside  the  legalities  of  the  case,  Henry  at  once 
entered  into  a  discussion  of  theories  of  government  and 
their  application  to  the  matter  in  hand.  Government, 
he  declared,  was  a  conditional  compact  between  the  king, 
stipulating  protection  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  people, 
stipulating  obedience  and  support  on  the  other.  The  act 
in  question  was  passed  for  the  good  of  the  people  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  its  veto  by  the  king  was  a  violation  of  the  con 
ditional  compact  and  an  instance  of  misrule  and  neglect, 
which  made  it  necessary  for  the  people  of  Virginia  to  pro 
vide  for  their  own  safety.  The  king  had  "  degenerated  into 
a  tyrant  and  forfeited  all  right  to  his  subjects'  obedience." 
Nevertheless,  under  the  ruling  of  the  court,  the  jury  must 
award  damages  to  the  parson,  but  they  would  satisfy  the 
law  by  the  smallest  possible  award.  They  assessed  the 
damages  at  one  penny.  In  this  case,  and  in  that  of  writs 
of  assistance,  Henry  and  Otis  merely  uttered  what  many 
men  thought;  they  had  said  nothing  new,  but  they  had 

struck  a  heavy  blow 
at  the  continuance  of 

a  sentiment  of  loyalty. 

A  heavier  blow  to  that 
sentiment  was  inflicted 
by  the  British  Parlia 
ment  in  the  passage 
of  the  Stamp  Act. 

119.  Grenville's  Pol 
icy. —  The  French  and 

Indian  War  ended  with  the  capture  of  Montreal  in  1760, 
although  the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  not  signed  until  1763. 
But  the  Indians  living  south  of  the  Great  Lakes  found  it 
difficult  to  believe  that  their  friends,  the  French,  had  really 
been  beaten.  They  rose,  and  under  the  leadership  of  Pon- 
tiac,  one  of  the  ablest  of  their  race,  besieged  the  English 
in  their  fort  at  Detroit. 


f  /_-  «"  IB 

THIS  B.IL  by  LAWShM  pafi  curirnt  in  NEW-JERSEY,  *  J  > 
tor  Fnv  Penoy-wtight,  [«]  and  Hat  Gwins  of  PTATE.  •?£; 

ember  ji,   1763  5  Eighteen.  Pence.  § 


New  Jersey  Currency 


I765] 


Grenville' s  Policy 


139 


The  English  colonists,  now  that  the  French  were  no 
longer  an  object  of  fear,  showed  little  enthusiasm  in  this 
conflict  with  natives  far  removed  from  their  borders.  They 
practically  refused  to  aid  the  government  with  soldiers  or 
with  money.  This  Indian  rebellion,  and  the  maintenance  of 
English  authority  in  Canada,  demanded  the  presence  of  a 
large  force  of  regular  soldiers  in  the  northern  colonies  and 
in  Canada.  The  British  government  determined  to  assess 
a  portion  of  the  expenditure  incurred  in  their  maintenance 
on  the  colonists.  William  Pitt  was  no  longer  in  office. 
Undoubtedly  he  would  have  taken  a  statesmanlike  view  of 
the  situation  and  have  recognized  the  inexpediency  of  forc 
ing  contributions  from  the  colonists. 

George  Grenville,  Pitt's  brother-in-law,  was  now  at  the 
head  of  the  government.  To  him  the  law  was  the  law,  and 
should  be  enforced  whenever  and  wherever  it  was  broken. 
He  saw  that  the  colonists  refused  to  obey  the  Navigation 
Acts  and  the  trade  laws,  and  that  they  also  declined  to  bear 
their  part  in  carrying  out  measures  which  his  military 
advisers  declared  to  be  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the 
empire.  He  lowered  the  duties  on  sugar  and  molasses, 
and  then  proceeded  to  enforce  the  modified  laws  with  all 
the  resources  at  his  command,  even  using  the  naval  vessels 
as  revenue  cutters.  These  measures  seriously  affected  the 
commercial  interests  of  New  England  and  account  for  much 
of  the  hatred  of  the  colonists  of  that  section  toward  the 
British  government.  Grenville  also  decided  to  raise  a 
revenue  from  the  colonies  and  aroused,  the  resentment  of 
all  the  colonists  from  the  Penobscot  to  the  Altamaha. 

120.  Passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  1765.  —  In  March,  1764, 
Grenville  stated  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  it  might 
be  thought  'necessary  for  the  colonists  to  contribute  toward 
the  support  of  the  troops  stationed  amongst  them  for  their 
protection.  He  moved  a  resolution  to  this  effect,  which 
was  passed  without  debate  or  opposition.  He  deferred 
bringing  in  a  bill  based  on  this  resolution,  in  the  expecta 
tion  that  the  colonial  assemblies  might  propose  some  other 


Apathy  of 
the  colonists. 


Grenville's 

policy. 

*Winsor's 

America, 

VI,  15-20, 

23-28. 


Stamp  Act 
proposed, 
1764. 

Franklin  in 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
III,  46. 


140 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§122 


Colonial 
protests. 


Analysis  of 
the  act. 


"  No  taxation 
without 
representa 
tion." 


method  of  taxation  by  Parliament,  or,  perhaps,  might  vote 
the  necessary  funds.  Grenville  did  not  believe  that  the 
colonists  would  protest  against  being  taxed  by  Parliament; 
but  this  was  precisely  what  they  did.  Assembly  after  as 
sembly  petitioned  in  vigorous  language  against  the  pro 
posed  measure,  but  these  petitions  were  not  even  received 
by  the  House  of  Commons.  The  act  levying  stamp  duties 
was  brought  in  and  passed  without  serious  opposition,  and 
received  the  king's  assent  in  March,  1765. 

121.  The  Stamp  Act.  —  The  act  in  itself  was  on  the  same 
line  as  a  law  in  force  in  Britain  at  that  time,  and  in  prin 
ciple  was  not  unlike  a  stamp  act  passed  by  the  Massachu 
setts  legislature  in    1755:    legal   documents   and   official 
papers  were  to  be  written  on  stamped  paper,  and  a  stamp 
was  to  be  placed  on  several  articles,  such  as  printed  books, 
newspapers,  and  playing  cards  ;  the  ordinary  business  papers 
and  receipts  for  money  paid  were  not  included,  and  the 
measure  was  less  severe  in  its  operation  than  the  law  at 
present  in  force  in  Great  Britain.     It  was  not  intended  to 
draw  the  money  thus  raised  to  England,  but  to  expend  it 
in  America  in  the  purchase  of  food  and  other  supplies  for 
the  soldiers.     The  evil  feature  of  the  act  as  a  law  was  that 
persons  accused  of  offenses  under  it  might  not  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  trial  by  jury,  at  the  discretion  of  the  prosecuting 
officer.     The  Stamp  Act  was  opposed  in  America,  not  on 
its  merits  as  a  piece  of  legislation,  but  on  the  ground  that 
"  no  taxation  without  representation  "  was  one  of  the  lead 
ing  maxims  of  the- Constitution  of  the  British  Empire  and 
one  of  the  most  important  rights  of  the  American  colonists 
as  Englishmen.     It  will   be  well   to   consider  this  matter 
in  detail,  as  the  difference   in  constitutional   ideas  which 
appeared  at  this  time  was  the  fundamental  cause  of  the 
splitting  apart  of  the  British  nation  and  of  the  founding  of 
the  Republic  of  the  United  States. 

122.  Representative  Institutions. — The  phrase  "no  tax 
ation  without  representation  "  was  familiar  to  all  sections  of 
the  British  people,  but  it  conveyed  very  different  ideas  to 


1765]  Representative  Institutions  141 

those  living  in  Great  Britain  and  to  their  kinsfolk  in  the 
colonies.  The  British  Parliament  was  composed  of  two 
houses,  —  the  Peers,  comprising  hereditary  nobles  and  the 
bishops,  and  the  House  of  Commons,  which  was  held  to 
represent  the  people.  The  members  of  the  latter  body 
were  elected  in  accordance  with  a  system  which  was 
the  result  of  centuries  of  constitutional  development :  the 
apportionment  of  members  was  based  on  the  counties  and 
the  boroughs;  although  they  differed  enormously  in  popu 
lation  and  extent,  each  of  these  divisions  sent  two  members 
to  Parliament.  No  attempt  had  been  made  to  redress  the 
inequalities  of  this  system  except  during  the  Puritan  su 
premacy,  and  the  changes  the  Puritans  had  made  had  been 
discarded  at  the  Restoration.  Furthermore,  only  four  new 
members  had  been  added  to  the  Commons  since  the  acces 
sion  of  James  I.  Some  of  the  boroughs  contained  no  in 
habitants  :  in  one  of  these,  Old  Sarum,  it  was  possible  in 
dry  seasons  to  trace  the  foundations  of  old  buildings  by 
the  color  of  the  grass;  in  another,  Midhurst,  the  sites  of 
old  allotments  were  marked  by  stone  posts;  while  one 
borough  "had  sunk  beneath  the  waters  of  the  North  Sea." 
These  all  returned  members  to  the  House  of  Commons; 
indeed,  William  Pitt  entered  political  life  as  "Member 
for  Old  Sarum."  On  the  other  hand,  great  centers  of 
trade  and  human  activity  returned  no  members  at  all. 

In  the  colonies,  the  case  was  radically  different.     Repre-   Representa- 

sentation  was  everywhere  apportioned  on  a  territorial  basis,    tion  in  the 

,  .   ,  ,     .  ,  -ii-i  colonies, 

which  was  being  constantly  changed  to  suit  the  altered  con 
ditions  of  the  several  parts  of  each  colony.  As  new  towns 
or  counties  were  formed,  either  by  the  growth  of  settlements 
already  made  or  by  the  colonization  of  new  regions,  the 
inhabitants  of  these  new  divisions  sent  representatives  to 
the  colonial  legislatures.  This  right  was  regarded  as  a 
most  valuable  one  in  the  colonies.  When  the  English 
government  directed  the  governor  of  Virginia  to  refuse  his 
assent  to  bills  erecting  new  counties  unless  the  people  of 
the  new  division  would  forego  their  right  of  representation, 


142 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§   '22 


The 

franchise  in 
England. 


In  the 
colonies. 


Other 
differences. 


it  was  resented  as  an  act  of  tyranny.  It  was  universally  felt 
that  all  sections  of  each  colony  and  all  bodies  of  colonists 
should  be  represented  in  the  assembly. 

In  the  matter  of  the  franchise  there  was  an  equally  wide 
difference  of  opinion.  In  Great  Britain  the  county  franchise 
was  confined  to  those  who  owned  land,  and  in  that  country 
it  must  be  remembered  the  land  was  owned  by  a  compara 
tively  small  number  of  persons.  The  borough  franchise 
depended  for  the  most  part  on  the  possession  of  some  pe 
culiar  privilege.  In  Midhurst,  for  instance,  the  owner  of  the 
plots  of  ground  marked  by  the  stone  posts,  above  mentioned, 
alone  enjoyed  the  franchise ;  in  other  places,  those  persons 
who  had  the  right  to  cook  their  food  at  a  common  fire  had 
the  right  to  vote  ;  and  a  man  ordinarily  possessed  as  many 
votes  as  he  owned  rights.  The  result  of  this  extraordinary 
condition  of  things  was  that  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  persons,  mostly  landowners  and  members  of  the  House  of 
Lords,  returned  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons. 

In  the  colonies,  on  the  other  hand,  the  franchise  was 
regulated  by  general  rules  and  was  usually  given  to  all  free 
adult  white  men  who  possessed  a  moderate  amount  of  prop 
erty.  In  the  southern  colonies,  the  suffrage  was  usually 
restricted  to  landowners ;  but  it  was  easy  to  acquire  land  in 
those  colonies,  and  the  qualification,  although  it  resembled 
the  English  county  franchise  in  form,  had  no  resemblance 
to  it  in  fact. 

In  Great  Britain  the  counties  and  boroughs  might  send 
to  Parliament  any  one  whom  the  possessors  of  the  franchise 
preferred,  no  matter  where  he  lived,  and  a  man  possessing 
the  necessary  voting  qualifications  could  vote  in  as  many 
places  as  he  possessed  those  rights.  In  the  colonies, 
residence  was  ordinarily  required  for  both  the  voter  and 
the  representative.  It  was  felt  that  the  latter  really  repre 
sented  the  wishes  and  interests  of  those  who  had  taken 
a  part  in  his  election.  To  the  colonist,  therefore,  the 
phrase  "  no  taxation  without  representation "  meant  that 


1765]          English   Theory  of  Representation  143 

no  tax  could  be  levied  except  by  vote  of  a  legislative  body 
in  which  a  person  known  to  the  voter,  and  in  whose  elec 
tion  he  had  taken  part,  had  a  seat;  but  to  an  Englishman 
the  phrase  meant  simply  "no  taxation  except  by  vote  of 
the  House  of  Commons." 

123.    English  Theory  of  Representation.  —  The  English  virtual 
idea  of  representative  government  signified  representation  representa- 
of  all  classes  of    the   community,   and  not   at   all  repre 
sentation  by  population.     The  great  mass  of  Englishmen 
belonging  to  any  particular  class  had  no  vote  for  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  but  other  Englishmen  of  the 
same  class  had  a  vote.     It  was  held,  therefore,  that  all  the 
members  of  that  class  were  virtually  represented.     It  was 
easy  to  extend  the  theory  and  to  argue  that  the  colonists 
were  also  represented,  inasmuch  as  merchants  interested  in 
colonial  trade  were  represented  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  English  idea  of  the  matter  was  admirably  summed  up   Mansfield's 
by  Lord  Mansfield,  then  Chief  Justice  of  England,  in  the   sPeech- 
course  of  the  debates  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  repeal   British  Or** 
of  the  Stamp  Act.     He  said :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  tions,  1, 150. 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  are  as  much  represented 
in  Parliament  as  the  greatest  part  of  the  people  of  Eng 
land  are.   ...     A  member  of  Parliament  chosen  for  any 
borough  represents  not  only  the  constituents  and  inhabit 
ants  of  that  particular  place,  but  he  represents  the  city  of 
London,  and  all  the  commons  of  the  land,  and  the  inhabit 
ants  of  all  the  colonies  and  dominions  of  Great  Britain." 
Writers  like  Jefferson  contended  on  the  other  hand,  that 
however  true  this  might  be  as  to  Englishmen,  it  had  no 
application  to  the  colonists,  who,  unlike  the  English  people, 
could  exert  no  pressure,  either  physical  or  moral,  upon  the 
actual  electors  and  the  chosen  members. 

This  wide  departure  between  English  and  American  Cause  of  the 
theories  of  government  can  be  traced  back  directly  to  the  difference  in 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  Puritans,  in  the 
time  of  their  power,  reformed  the  apportionment  and 
the  franchise  on  modern  lines.  At  the  time  of  the  Restora- 


144 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§124 


The  Stamp 

Act  in 

America. 

*Frothing- 

ham's 

Republic, 

177. 


Henry's 
speech,  1765. 
*Frothing- 
ham's 
Republic, 
178-181 ; 
Tyler's 
Henry,  ch.  v. 


tion  these  changes  were  distasteful  to  the  majority  of 
Englishmen  and  they  were  accordingly  discarded,  and 
the  old  system  brought  back.  The  colonies  developed 
on  the  lines  laid  down  in  the  instructions  to  Yeardley 
(1619)  and  in  the  development  of  representative  institu 
tions  in  New  England,  modified  by  the  democratic  tend 
encies  of  the  Quakers  and  their  associates.  In  the  course 
of  a  century  the  institutions  of  the  two  portions  of  the  British 
Empire  had  grown  so  far  apart  that  further  continuance 
of  the  two  sections  of  Englishmen  under  one  government, 
except  under  some  form  of  federation,  was  no  longer  possi 
ble.  The  colonists  could  not  understand  the  theory  which 
held  them  to  be  represented  in  the  British  Parliament,  and 
they  determined  to  resist  the  attempt  to  tax  them  to  the 
utmost  of  their  ability. 

124.  Resistance  in  America.  —  At  the  outset,  the  opinion 
that  there  would  be  no  resistance  to  the  act  seemed  to  be 
justified.  The  guns  of  a  fort  near  Philadelphia  were  spiked  ; 
but,  except  this,  there  was  no  demonstration  of  any  impor 
tance  until  the  end  of  May  (1765).  This  quiet  was  not 
due  to  any  willingness  of  the  colonists  to  obey  the  Stamp 
Act;  it  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  there  was  nothing  to 
oppose.  The  names  of  the  stamp  distributors  were  not  yet 
known,  there  were  no  stamps  to  destroy,  and  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  act  could  not  be  resisted,  as  it  did  not  go  into 
effect  until  nearly  six  months  later  (in  November).  It 
needed  only  the  urging  of  a  bold  spirit  to  bring  out  the 
feeling  of  opposition,  which  was  not  dead,  but  waiting  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  manifest  itself. 

Patrick  Henry's  speech  on  the  Parson's  Cause  had  given 
him  great  popularity.  He  was  soon  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy 
which  had  occurred  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  as  the  repre 
sentative  branch  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  was  termed.  He 
had  never  before  sat  in  a  legislative  body,  and  waited  impa 
tiently  for  one  of  the  more  experienced  men  to  propose  a 
formal  protest  against  the  Stamp  Act,  but  the  leading  men 
were  fully  employed  in  dealing  with  a  matter  of  financial 


1765]  Resistance  in  America  145 

irregularity  on  the  part  of  the  Speaker,  who  was  also  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Province.  As  the  session  neared  its  close 
and  none  of  the  leaders  proposed  to  take  any  action  in 
regard  to  the  Stamp  Act,  Henry  arose  and  moved  a  set  of 
resolutions,  which  he  forced  on  the  attention  of  the  reluc 


tant  burgesses  by  a  most  fiery  speech.  They  were  all 
adopted,  but  the  next  day,  after  Henry's  departure,  the 
boldest  of  them  was  rescinded.  The  two  most  important 
are  here  given  in  full : 

"Re$olvidt  That  his  Majesty's  liege  people  of  this  his   Henry's 
ancient  colony  have  enjoyed  the  right  of  being  thus  gov-   resolutlons- 
erned  by  their  own  Assembly  in  the  article  of  taxes  and 
internal  police,  and  that  the  same  has  never  been  forfeited, 
or  any  other  way  yielded  up,  but  have  been  constantly 
recognized  by  the  King  and  people  of  Great  Britain. 

"Resolved,  Therefore,  that  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
colony,  together  with  his  Majesty  or  his  substitutes,  have, 
in  their  representative  capacity,  the  only  exclusive  right 
and  power  to  lay  taxes  and  imposts  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  this  colony;  and  that  every  attempt  to  vest  such  power 
in  any  other  person  or  persons  whatever  than  the  General 
Assembly  aforesaid,  is  illegal,  unconstitutional,  and  unjust, 
and  has  a  manifest  tendency  to  destroy  British  as  well  as 
American  liberty."  In  other  words,  the  Virginia  Assembly 
denied  the  power  of  Parliament  to  legislate  in  any  way  on 
the  internal  concerns  of  the  Old  Dominion. 

In  August,  the  names  of  the  stamp  distributors  were  pub-  The  act 
lished.     At  once  riots  occurred  in  New  Hampshire,  Massa-   nulhfied- 
chusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Rhode 


146 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§125 


Stamp  Act 
Congress, 

1765- 

*Froth- 

ingham's 

Republic, 

184-189. 


Declaration 
of  Rights, 
1765- 


Island.  Before  long,  every  stamp  distributor  was  forced 
to  resign.  The  rioters  at  Boston  were  especially  violent, 
for  there  the  resentment  of  the  people  was  directed  against 
the  customs  officials  as  well  as  against  the  stamp  officers. 
Hutchinson,  the  lieutenant  governor  and  chief  justice  who 
had  given  the  decision  in  favor  of  writs  of  assistance,  was 
marked  out  for  the  vengeance  of  the  excited  people.  His 
house  was  broken  open  and  his  valuable  books  and  papers 
destroyed.  As  the  stamps  and  the  stamped  paper  arrived 
from  England,  they  were  stored  in  the  forts  or  on  vessels  in 
the  harbor.  The  ist  of  November  arrived,  and  not  a  stamp 
,  could  be  bought.  There  was  not  a  man  in  America  who 
had  authority  to  open  the  packages  and  sell  the  stamps,  and 
in  the  condition  of  the  public  mind  then  prevailing,  no 
one  was  willing  to  take  the  responsibility  of  forcing  them 
upon  the  people.  On  the  contrary,  the  royal  officials  were 
obliged  to  disregard  the  act;  even  the  courts  were  com 
pelled  to  proceed  regardless  of  the  law. 

125.  The  Stamp  Act  Congress,  1765.  —  Meantime,  in 
June,  on  the  motion  of  James  Otis,  the  Massachusetts 
House  of  Representatives  had  invited  the  assemblies  of  the 
other  colonies  to  send  delegates  to  a  general  meeting  or 
congress  to  be  held  in  October.  On  the  appointed  day, 
October  7,  delegates  from  all  the  colonies  whose  assemblies 
were  in  session,  except  that  of  New  Hampshire,  met  at 
New  York.  The  majority  of  the  members  were  moderate 
men,  and  the  congress  did  nothing  except  to  formulate  a 
Declaration  of  Rights  and  petitions  to  the  king  and  to  the 
Houses  of  Parliament.  The  Declaration  of  Rights  is  im 
portant,  because  it  is  the  first  utterance  of  any  consider 
able  number  of  the  colonies  on  the  questions  which  were 
soon  to  be  of  supreme  importance.  After  acknowledging 
allegiance  to  the  "crown  of  Great  Britain,"  and  declaring 
themselves  to  be  entitled  to  the  same  liberties  as  "his 
natural  born  subjects  ...  in  Great  Britain,"  they  assert 
that  the  "  people  of  the  colonies  are  not,  and,  from  their 
local  circumstances,  cannot  be  represented  in  the  House 


1766]  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  147 

of  Commons,"  and  that  no  taxes  "  can  be  constitutionally 
imposed  on  them  but  by  their  respective  legislatures";  they 
also  called  attention  to  the  clauses  of  the  Stamp  Act  above 
noted,  as  to  the  trial  of  cases  arising  under  it  in  the 
admiralty  courts,  and  asserted  "that  trial  by  jury  is  the 
inherent  and  invaluable  right  of  every  British  subject  in 
these  colonies." 

Although  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  produced  slight  direct 
results,  its  meeting  was  of  the  utmost  importance.     For 
three  quarters  of  a  century  the  British  government  had 
endeavored  to  unite   the   colonies   in   opposition  to  the 
French,   and  had   been  unsuccessful.     Now  the  colonies  f, 
came  together  of  their  own  accord  to  defend  their  rights  jj 
against  the  encroachments  of  king  and  Parliament. 

126.  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  1766. — The  Grenville  First 
ministry  was  now  no  longer  in  office.  Its  leading  members 
had  deeply  offended  the  king  by  their  want  of  tact.  He  I?66. 
seized  the  first  opportunity  to  dismiss  them,  but  found  it 
impossible  to  fill  their  places  with  men  who  would  do  his 
bidding.  In  the  end,  he  was  obliged  to  confide  the  gov 
ernment  to  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham,  a  descendant  of 
the  Lord  Strafford  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Rocking 
ham  was  a  slow,  dull  man,  but  he  was  honest  and  possessed 
a  great  fortune.  The  king  disliked  him  as  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Whig  aristocracy  from  whose  yoke  he  was 
striving  to  free  the  monarchy.  Rockingham  could  hope 
for  no  help  from  his  royal  master,  and  he  had  few  follow 
ers,  of  whom  none  were  men  of  mark  except  Edmund 
Burke,  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  government.  Never 
theless,  Rockingham  and  his  faction  represented  what 
would  be  termed  in  American  political  language  the  "  reg 
ular  "  section  of  the  Whig  party,  and  might  hope  to  attract 
the  other  sections  of  that  once  powerful  organization. 

This  weak  ministry  came  into  office  at  the  moment  when   Policy  of 
a  most  serious  crisis  was  impending.     There  was  in  addi-  the  new 

...  ,    ministry. 

tion  to  the  trouble  in  America  a  controversy  over  general 
warrants  in  England,  which  involved  issues  similar  to  those 


148 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§126 


Benjamin 
Franklin, 
portions  of 
autobiog 
raphy  in 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
HI,  3-i6. 


His 

examination. 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 

111,21. 


Pitt's  speech. 
Adams's 
British  Ora 
tions,  98 ; 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
II,  No.  142. 


that  underlay  the  question  of  writs  of  assistance  in  Massa 
chusetts.  As  to  the  Stamp  Act,  it  was  difficult  to  know 
what  to  do :  that  precise  form  of  taxation  had  been 
selected  because,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  the  law  would 
have  enforced  itself,  as  it  was  for  the  interest  of  every  per 
son  receiving  a  legal  document  to  see  that  it  was  in  all 
respects  according  to  law.  In  the  temper  then  prevailing 
in  America,  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to  enforce  it  with 
out  an  armed  conflict,  and  there  could  be  no  question  of 
modifying  the  act,  as  it  was  well  drawn.  The  colonists 
objected  to  being  taxed  at  all  by  any  legislative  body  in 
which  they  held  themselves  to  be  unrepresented.  In  this 
state  of  doubt  the  Rockingham  ministry  determined  to 
repeal  the  act,  mainly  on  account  of  the  shrewd  observa 
tions  of  Dr.  Franklin,  then  in  London  as  agent  for  several 
colonies,  and  in  the  hope  of  winning  the  support  of  Will 
iam  Pitt,  whose  hearty  co-operation  might  have  given  the 
ministry  sufficient  strength  to  maintain  itself  in  power. 
America  has  probably  never  produced  a  man  of  greater 
mental  grasp  than  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  in  him  the 
greatest  ability  was  combined  with  common  sense  and 
worldly  wisdom,  as  they  have  never  been  combined  in  any 
other  man.  He  and  some  of  his  English  friends  brought  it 
about  that  he  should  be  summoned  to  the  bar  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  there  interrogated  as  to  the  American 
crisis.  Some  of  the  questions  were  arranged  beforehand, 
but  many  were  prompted  by  the  course  of  the  examination. 
In  the  House  of  Commons,  Pitt  made  two  speeches  denying 
the  right  of  Parliament  to  lay  internal  taxes  on  the  colonies 
and  "rejoicing  that  America  had  resisted."  He  sought  to 
draw  a  line  between  external  and  internal  taxation,  and 
argued  that,  although  Parliament  could  regulate  trade  and 
raise  a  revenue,  while  so  doing  it  could  not  lay  direct  in 
ternal  taxes  on  the  colonists.  The  same  view  was  enforced 
in  the  House  of  Peers  by  Lord  Camden,  who  urged  that 
taxation  without  representation  was  against  the  constitu 
tion.  Their  arguments  were  ably  met  in  the  Commons  by 


1767]  The  Townshend  Acts  149 

George  Grenville,  and  in  the  Peers  by  Lord  Mansfield,  who 
had  the  law  clearly  on  their  side,  although  expediency  was 
as  plainly  with  Pitt  and  Camden.     The  English  merchants 
petitioned  for  the  repeal  of  the  act,  on  the  ground  that  the 
disturbances  which  it  had  caused  in  America  were  disas 
trous  to  colonial  trade.     Thus  urged,  and  with  the  means   Repeal  of 
of  retreat  pointed  out  by  Pitt,  the  ministers  brought  in  two  JctS*^ 
bills, —  one  to  repeal  the  Stamp  Act,  the  other  declaring 
that  Parliament  had  power  to  "  legislate  for  the  colonies 
in  all  cases  whatsoever."     Both  bills  passed  and  became 
law.     Thus  Parliament  upheld  the  theory  of  its  legislative 
supremacy,  but  gave  way  on  a  particular  point.     The  colo 
nists,  considering  that  they  had  won,  rejoiced  greatly,  and 
no  name  was  more  popular  with  them  than  that  of  William 
Pitt.     In  reality,  however,  by  the  Declaratory  Act,  Parlia-   The 
ment  had  retained  full  right  to  tax  the  colonists  whenever  A^t°  ^^ 
it  might  seem  best.     There  can  be  no  question  that  Pitt  Winsor's 
was  wrong  in  his  attempt  to   separate  the   taxing   power  A™ertca> 
from  the  general  legislative  power,  and  that  Mansfield  and 
Grenville  were  right  in  asserting  that  one  could  not  exist 
without  the  other. 

127.  The  Townshend  Acts,  1767.  —The  yielding  to  Pitt  Chatham- 
did  not  bring  to  the  Rockingham  ministry  the  support  of 
that  statesman.  On  the  contrary,  he  soon  became  the  head 
of  a  government  which  is  known  as  the  Chatham-Grafton 
ministry.  William  Pitt,  now  a  peer,  with  the  title  of  Earl 
of  Chatham,  was  the  real  leader,  although  the  Duke  of 
Grafton  was  the  nominal  head.  The  other  members  of  the 
government  were  drawn  from  all  parties, —  followers  of 
Rockingham  and  Pitt,  and  even  Tories,  like  Lord  North; 
indeed,  so  many  elements  were  represented,  that  Burke 
laughingly  described  it  as  a  bit  of  "tesselated  pavement" 
and  christened  it "  The  Mosaic  Ministry. "  Chatham  almost 
immediately  retired  to  his  country  house,  the  victim  of 
some  peculiar  malady,  which  seems  to  have  resembled  the 
"nervous  prostration"  of  our  day.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  the  most  energetic  man  took  the  lead,  and  he  was 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§128 


The 

Townshend 
Acts,  1767. 
Winsor's 
America, 

vi,  35; 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I,  28-32; 

*Frothing- 

ham's 

Republic, 

203-206. 


Letters  of  a 

Pennsylvania 

Farmer, 

1767-68. 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

1,47- 


Charles  Townshend,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  or  min 
ister  of  finance.  Relying  on  the  Declaratory  Act,  he  pro 
ceeded  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  George  Grenville,  except 
as  to  internal  taxes.  This  led  to  the  passing  of  several 
bills  (1767),  which  are  usually  known  from  their  promoter 
as  the  Townshend  Acts,  (i)  One  act  provided  for  a  colo 
nial  revenue,  to  be  raised  from  a  tax  on  wine,  oil,  glass, 
paper,  lead,  painters'  colors,  and  tea  imported  into  the 
colonies,  the  duties  to  be  paid  at  importation,  and  the 
proceeds  used  (2)  to  pay  the  salaries  of  the  governors 
and  judges  of  the  royal  provinces,  in  this  way  rendering 
them  independent  of  the  votes  of  the  colonial  assemblies. 
(3)  Another  enactment  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a 
Board  of  Customs  Commissioners,  resident  in  the  colonies, 
who  would  be  able  to  exercise  effective  control  of  the  cus 
toms  service.  (4)  Writs  of  assistance  were  also  declared  to 
be  legal,  and  (5)  provision  was  made  for  the  trial  of  reve 
nue  cases  by  admiralty  courts  without  juries.  (6)  At  nearly 
the  same  time,  Parliament  suspended  the  functions  of  the 
legislative  assembly  of  New  York  because  it  had  not  made 
provision  for  the  support  of  the  British  regiments  stationed 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  as  was  required  by  an  earlier  act 
passed  during  the  Grenville  regime.  These  various  enact 
ments  raised  most  serious  issues :(i)  the  constitutional 
relations  of  Parliament  and  the  several  colonial  legisla 
tures,  (2)  the  right  of  trial  by  jury,  (3)  the  control  of  the 
judiciary  and  executive  by  the  people,  (4)  the  legality  of 
writs  of  assistance,  and  (5)  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax 
goods  imported  into  the  colonies.  The  answer  of  the 
colonists  was  not  long  delayed,  nor  was  it  easily  misunder 
stood. 

128.  Resistance  to  the  Townshend  Acts,  1768,  1769. — 
Non-importation  agreements  were  again  proposed,  espe 
cially  by  Virginia,  but  without  much  effect,  and  in  the 
Letters  of  a  Pennsylvania  Farmer,  John  Dickinson,  one  of 
the  truest-hearted  and  best  men  of  the  revolutionary  epoch, 
pointed  out  "  that  any  law,  in  so  far  as  it  creates  expense, 


1768] 


Resistance  in  America 


is  in  reality  a  tax."  It  was  on  New  England,  however, 
that  the  new  legislation  would  bear  most  severely,  and  it 
was  New  England,  especially  Massachusetts,  that  took  the 
lead  in  opposition.  In  the  winter  of  1767-68  the  repre 
sentatives  voted  several  petitions  and  letters,  which  were 
the  work  mainly  of  Samuel  Adams.  Among  them  was  a 
Circular  Letter  to  be  signed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
and  transmitted  to  the  other  assemblies,  notifying  them  of 
the  votes  of  Massachusetts  and  suggesting  concerted  action, 
while  disavowing  any  desire  for  independence.  Precisely 
what  it  was  in  this 
document  that 
aroused  the  fears  of 
the  British  govern 
ment  cannot  be  defi 
nitely  stated  ;  but 
the  fact  that  the 
Massachusetts  lead 
ers  felt  it  necessary 
to  assure  the  other 
colonies  that  they 
were  not  aiming  at 
independence  might 
well  have  alarmed 
the  colonial  secre 
tary.  At  all  events, 
he  wrote  to  Governor 
Bernard  of  Massachusetts  directing  him  to  order  the  legis 
lature  of  that  province  to  rescind  the  letter  ;  and  in  a 
Circular  Letter  to  the  governors  of  the  other  provinces  he 
commanded  them  to  dissolve  the  assemblies  of  their 
respective  colonies  in  case  they  should  act  in  conformity 
with  the  invitation  from  Massachusetts.  The  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  latter  province,  by  an  overwhelming 
majority,  refused  to  rescind  its  letter,  and  the  other  assem 
blies  grasped  the  first  opportunity  to  make  the  cause  of 
Massachusetts  their  own. 


Samuel  Adams 


Massa 
chusetts 
Circular 
Letter, 
1767-68. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  41; 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 

I,47-5o; 

*Froth- 

ingham's 

Republic, 

109-232. 


152 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§129 


Seizure  of 
the  Liberty, 
1768. 
Winsor's 
America, 

VI,  435 

Fiske's 
Revolution, 
I.  51-53- 


129.  Seizure  of  the  Liberty,  1768. — The  new  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  Customs  (p.  150)  established  their 
headquarters  at  Boston,  where  there  was  the  greatest  need 
of  supervision,  but  where  they  were  certain  to  be  opposed 
in  the  exercise  of  their  duty.  Presently  arrived  the  sloop 
Liberty,  owned  by  John  Hancock,  a  rich  Boston  merchant 
and  a  very  popular  man.  Attempting  to  evade  this  pay 
ment  in  the  usual  manner,  by  bribing  the  customs  officials, 


The  Hancock  House 


the  vessel  was  seized  and  towed  under  the  guns  of  the 
British  frigate  Romney,  which  was  lying  at  anchor  in  the 
harbor.  A  riot  occurred  which  frightened  the  commis 
sioners;  they  fled  to  the  fort  in  the  harbor  and  Vrote  to 
England  demanding  soldiers  and  a  larger  naval  force. 
Before  this  supplemental  force  could  arrive,  however,  the 
Boston  people,  in  town  meeting,  requested  the  governor 
to  summon  the  assembly;  on  his  refusal,  they  summoned 
a  convention  of  delegates  from  the  several  towns.  It  met, 


1769]  The   Virginia  Resolves  153 

but  accomplished  nothing  except  to  provide  a  precedent 
for  the  Provincial  Congress  of  a  later  day. 

130.  The  Virginia  Resolves  of  1769. — To  the  ever-  Virginia 
growing  list  of  colonial  grievances,  there  was  now  added  i  e*°  /es' 
a  threat  which,  had  it  been  carried  out,  would  have  worked  *Froth- 
great  injury  to  the  colonists.  In  the  days  of  Henry  VIII,  ingham's 
long  before  England  had  a  colony  or  a  colonist,  Parliament 
had  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  trial,  conviction,  and 
punishment  in  England  of  an  English  subject  accused  of 
crimes  committed  outside  the  realm.  The  two  houses 
of  Parliament  now  prayed  the  king  to  cause  colonists 
charged  with  treason  to  be  brought  to  England  for  trial,  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  ancient  statute. 
The  Virginia  leaders,  ever  alive  to  constitutional  matters, 
were  thoroughly  converted  to  the  opposition.  Washington, 
one  of  the  most  influential  and  prosperous  of  their  num 
ber,  as  well  as  one  of  the  wisest,  wrote :  "...  No  man 
should  hesitate  a  moment  to  use  arms  in  defence  of  so 
valuable  a  blessing  [freedom]."  The  Virginia  Assembly  Analysis  of 
met  on  May  n,  1769.  Five  days  later,  the  burgesses  resolves- 
unanimously  adopted  four  resolves,  asserting  (i)  that  they, 
with  the  council  and  the  king,  or  his  representative,  have 
"  the  sole  right  of  imposing  taxes  on  the  inhabitants  "  of  Vir 
ginia,  (2)  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  colonies  have 
the  right  to  petition  for  redress  of  grievances,  and  (3)  that 
it  is  lawful  for  them  to  petition  jointly  with  the  people  of 
other  colonies.  Coming  now  to  the  precise  matter  which 
had  been  the  occasion  of  these  resolves,  the  burgesses  de 
clared  (4)  that  all  trials  for  any  crime  whatsoever  should 
be  within  the  colony  by  known  course  of  law,  and  asserted 
that  the  sending  any  suspected  person  beyond  the  seas  for 
trial  is  "highly  derogatory  of  the  right  of  British  sub 
jects."  The  Speaker  was  directed  to  send  copies  of  these 
resolves  to  the  other  assemblies,  and  to  request  their  con 
currence  therein.  The  governor  at  once  dissolved  the 
Virginia  Assembly,  but  the  popular  branches  of  the  other 
colonial  assemblies  generally  adopted  similar  resolutions 


154 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§131 


Virginia 
proposes 
non-impor 
tation,  1769. 
*Froth- 
ingham's 
Republic, 
238. 


Partial 

repeal  of  the 

Townshend 

duties. 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I,  60-63. 


—  some  of  them  even  used  the  words  of  the  Virginia 
Resolves. 

131.  Non-importation  Agreements,  1769.  —  The  dissolu 
tion  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  only  hastened  the  crisis. 
The  burgesses  met  in  a  neighboring  house  and  signed  an 
agreement  binding  themselves  neither  to  use  nor  to  import 
any  goods  on  which  a  tax  was  levied  by  act  of  Parliament. 
This  document  had  been  drawn  up  by  George  Mason;  it  was 
presented  to  the  burgesses  by  George  Washington,  and  among 
the  signatures  to  it  was  that  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  The  other 
colonies  soon  adopted  similar  agreements,  and  by  the  end 
of  the  year  (1769)  the  non-importation  policy  was  in  full 
operation.  The  object  of  the  colonists  in  "boycotting" 
certain  goods,  which  were  either  the  products  of  England 
or  were  imported  through  English  mercantile  houses,  was 
to  exert  a  pressure  on  English  merchants  engaged  in  colo 
nial  trade,  and  through  them  to  influence  the  government. 
This  policy  proved  to  be  effectual;  the  merchants  petitioned 
for  the  repeal  of  the  act,  and  the  government  acceded  to 
their  wishes.  In  point  of  fact,  the  Townshend  duties,  in 
stead  of  producing  a  revenue,  had  proved  to  be  a  source  of 
expense.  It  was  estimated  that  they  had  brought  into  the 
exchequer  only  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  pounds  above 
the  cost  of  collection;  and  the  opposition  to  them  had 
necessitated  increased  expenditures  to  the  amount  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  pounds. 

Instead,  however,  of  repealing  them  all,  the  government, 
at  the  express  command  of  the  king,  retained  the  duty  on 
tea  to  serve  as  a  precedent  for  future  parliamentary  taxation 
of  the  colonists.  The  tea  tax  had  yielded  a  total  gross 
revenue  of  some  three  hundred  pounds,  and  was  retained 
probably  on  account  of  its  insignificance,  for  being  un 
noticed,  it  might  not  be  resisted.  The  Navigation  Acts 
and  the  trade  laws  still  remained;  conflicts  with  the 
revenue  officers  became  more  frequent,  and  the  colonists 
regarded  with  increasing  dislike  the  British  soldiers  sta 
tioned  at  New  York  and  Boston. 


1770]  The  Boston  Massacre  155 

132.   The  Boston  Massacre,  1770. — While  the  govern-   British 
ment  and  Parliament  had  been  considering  the  question  of  soldiers  in 
repeal,  a  serious  affray,  known  as  the  "Boston  Massacre,"    I766^o. 
had  greatly   complicated    the    situation    (March,    1770),    Winsor's 
although  tidings  of  the  disturbance  had  not  reached  Eng-   ^™erica> 
land  until  after  the  partial  repeal  of  the  Townshend  duties 
(April,  1770).     A  few  soldiers  had  been  stationed  at  Boston 
as  early  as  1766;  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  rioting  con 
sequent  on  the  seizure  of  the  Liberty  that  any  considerable 
body  of  troops  was  sent  to  that  town.     It  is  difficult  to  con 
ceive  why  they  were  sent,  as  two  regiments  could  have 
offered  slight  resistance  to  the  soldiery  of  Massachusetts, 
and   their  presence  was  certain  to  embitter  the  already  impress- 
strained   relations  between  the  colonists  and  the  British  ment- 1769- 
authorities.     Early  in  1769,  blood  was  shed  in  an  attempt   criminal 
by  a  party  from  the  Rose  frigate  to  press  men  into  the    Trials, 
naval  service;    and  a  short   time  after,  a  boy  had   been  I>297' 
accidentally  shot  in  the  streets  of  Boston.     On  Saturday 
night,  March  3,  a  party  of  soldiers,  while  off  duty,  engaged   The 
in  a  conflict  with  some  workingmen  returning  from  their   Massacre, 
labor.     The  next  Monday,  March  5,  1770,  renewed  conflict    criminal 
began  with  the  soldiers,  this  time  with  those  on  duty  on    Trials,  I, 
King,  now  State,  Street.    Before  the  matter  ended,  the  main  303-418 ; 
guard  was  turned  out  and  the  mob  fired  upon  by  the  angry  Revolution, 
and  frightened  soldiers;  four  citizens  were  killed  and  sev-   1,66-72. 
eral  wounded.     It  was  evident  to  the  leaders  on  both  sides 
that  a  most  serious  crisis  had  arisen;  in  the  temper  then 
prevailing,  the  soldiers  must  be  removed  or  they  would  be 
slaughtered  and  a  conflict  with  Great  Britain  precipitated, 
which  was  desired  at  that  time  by  few  colonists. 

At  the  head  of  a  committee  appointed  in  town  meeting,    Adams  and 
Samuel  Adams  waited  upon   Hutchinson,   then  acting  as   Hutchinson. 
governor  in  the  absence  of  Bernard,  and  demanded  the  temporaries 
removal  of  the  troops.     Hutchinson  offered  to  remove  the   II,  No.  151. 
regiment  which  had  fired  on  the  people.     Adams  reported 
this  answer  to  the  town  meeting.     He  soon  reappeared  and 
said  to  Hutchinson:  "If  you  can  remove  one,  you  can 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§132 


remove  both;  there  are  three  thousand  people  in  yonder 
town  meeting;  the  country  is  rising;  the  night  is  falling, 
and  we  must  have  our  answer."  Hutch inson  promised  to 
send  them  all  out  of  the  town,  but  it  took  another  town 
meeting  to  secure  their  departure.  The  officers  and  men 
present  at  the  time  of  the  firing  were  arrested  and  tried  on 


Faneuil  Hall 

the  charge  of  murder.  They  were  defended  by  John  Adams 
and  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  two  patriots,  who  risked  their  popu 
larity  and  influence  that  the  soldiers  might  have  the  fullest 
justice  done  to  them.  All  were  acquitted  on  the  charge  of 
murder  by  a  jury  drawn  from  Boston  and  the  neighborhood; 
two  of  them,  however,  were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter 
and  branded  in  the  hand.  Probably  the  issues  underlying 
no  other  event  in  American  history  have  been  so  misrepre 
sented  by  friends  and  foes  as  those  relating  to  this  so-called 


1771]        Local  Committees  of  Correspondence         157 


"massacre."  The  colonists  regarded  the  British  army  as 
existing  under  British  law  and,  therefore,  they  maintained 
that  not  a  soldier  could  be  constitutionally  stationed  in  any 
colony  without  the  consent  of  the  colonial  legislature.  This 
theory  was  similar  to  that  upon  which  the  opposition  to  the 
Stamp  Act  and  the  Townshend  Acts  was  based.  From 
another  point  of  view  the  "massacre  "  was  important,  as  it 
showed  the  danger  to  the  liberty  of  the  subject  incurred  by 
the  substitution  of  military  for  civil  power.  The  event  was 
therefore  commemorated  in  Boston  as  a  victory  for  free 
dom,  until  the  adoption 
of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  on  July 
4,  1776,  gave  the  people 
of  the  whole  country  a 
day  of  general  rejoicing. 
133.  Local  Commit 
tees  of  Correspondence. 
—  After  the  removal  of 
the  soldiers,  affairs  in 
Massachusetts  assumed 
a  quieter  aspect  than 
they  had  borne  for  years. 
Hutchinson  chose  this 
time  of  quiet  to  open 
a  discussion  with  the 
House  of  Representa 
tives  as  to  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  colonists.  He 
argued  that  the  position  assumed  by  the  colonial  leaders 
was  unsound  and  asserted  that  they  must  either  submit  or 
become  independent.  Undoubtedly  Hutchinson  was  right; 
there  was  no  constitutional  mode  of  redress;  the  colonists 
were  face  to  face  with  the  alternative  of  submission  or 
rebellion  and  the  latter  might  lead  to  revolution  and  inde 
pendence.  Samuel  Adams  saw  at  once  the  opportunity 
such  a  debate  gave  him  to  call  attention  to  the  real  issues 
in  controversy.  He  spread  the  discussion  abroad  through- 


Thomas  Hutchinson 


Local 

Committees 
of  Corre 
spondence. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
1,77-80; 
*Froth- 
ingham's 
Republic, 
259-271. 


Hutchinson 
and  Adams. 
Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 
III,6i; 
Hosmer's 
Samuel 
Adams. 


158 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§i34 


Burning  of 
the  Gaspee, 
1772. 
Lossing's 
Revolution, 
I,  628. 


The 

Commission 
of  Inquiry. 


out  the  whole  province  by  means  of  town  committees  of 
correspondence.  At  the  moment,  however,  Massachusetts 
seemed  to  stand  alone.  An  over-zealous  naval  officer,  by 
the  rigorous  way  in  which  he  sought  to  enforce  the  naviga 
tion  laws,  brought  on  a  crisis  that  ended  in  the  formation 
of  colonial  committees  of  correspondence, —  the  second 
step  in  the  formation  of  a  complete  revolutionary  organiza 
tion. 

134.  Colonial  Committees  of  Correspondence.  —  Among  the 
many  acts  of  violence  committed  by  the  colonists  before 
the  destruction  of  the  tea  by  the  Boston  men,  none  led  to 
more  important  consequences  than  the  burning  of  the 
Gaspee  by  the  people  of  Providence.  There  were  not 
wanting  deeds  of  daring  in  other  colonies,  as  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Peggy  Steivart  by  the  Mary  landers;  but  the 
Gaspee  affair  assumed  a  national  importance  from  the 
action  of  the  British  authorities.  The  Gaspee  was  an 
armed  government  vessel  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Dud- 
ington  of  the  royal  navy.  His  duty  was  to  patrol  Narra- 
gansett  Bay  and  connecting  waters  with  a  view  to  the 
enforcement  of  the  Navigation  Acts.  One  day,  while 
chasing  a  colonial  vessel,  the  Gaspee  ran  aground  and 
remained  immovable  on  a  narrow  spit,  which  has  since 
been  called  Gaspee  Point.  Led  by  the  most  prominent 
and  respected  merchant  in  the  town,  men  from  Providence 
boarded  her  in  the  night,  seized  the  crew,  and  set  the  ves 
sel  on  fire  (1772).  Instead  of  passing  over  the  matter  as 
a  personal  quarrel  between  Dudington  and  the  Providence 
men,  the  British  government  determined  to  avenge  it  as 
an  insult  to  the  British  flag.  A  Commission  of  Inquiry 
was  sent  to  Rhode  Island  to  sift  the  matter,  to  seize  the 
perpetrators,  and  to  convey  them  out  of  the  colony  for 
trial.  The  names  of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  affair 
were  known  to  a  thousand  persons  at  least,  but  no  one 
could  be  found  to  inform  the  commissioners  against  them. 
Moreover,  Stephen  Hopkins,  the  courageous  chief  justice 
of  Rhode  Island,  declared  that  not  a  person  should  be 


i772J  Colonial  Union  159 

removed  for  trial  without  the   colony's  limits.     The  com 
missioners  abandoned  the  inquiry  and  reported  their  failure 
to  the  government.     The  Virginia  Assembly  was  in  session 
when   the   news    of  the   appointment  of  this    commission 
reached  the  Old  Dominion.     Now,  as  in  1769   (p.  153), 
the  burgesses  showed   themselves  peculiarly  alive    to    any 
action   which   looked   toward   the   breaking   down   of  the 
constitutional  safeguards  of  the  liberty  of  the  colonists. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Patrick  Henry  and  Thomas  Jeffer-   Colonial 
son,  a  permanent  Committee  of  Correspondence  was  ap-   Committees 
pointed  to  inform  themselves  particularly  of  the  facts  as  to  Sp0ndence 
the  Gaspee  Commission,  and  "  to  maintain  a  correspondence   1773- , 
with  our  sister  colonies."     Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,    *Fr°th- 
Connecticut,    New  Hampshire,   and   South   Carolina   ap-   RepuMbt 
pointed  similar  committees.     For  the  moment  the  other  279-283. 
colonies  took  no  action.     The  machinery  for  revolutionary 
organization  had  been  discovered,  however,  and  before  long 
the  action  of  the  British  government  as  to  the  tea   duty 
forced  all  the  colonies  into  line. 

135.    Colonial  Union.  —  The  English  East  India  Company  Attempt  to 
was  now  in  severe  financial  straits,  owing  to  the  wars  it  was  bribe  the 
compelled  to  wage  in  India,  to  the  extravagance  with  which  payTea  duty 
the  government  of  that  country  was  administered,  to  the   *Froth- 
heavy  payments  it  was  obliged  to  make  to  its  shareholders  mgham>s 
and  to  the  English  government,  and  to  the  heavy  duties 
levied  in  England  on  goods  produced  in  India.     The  Dutch 
East  India  Company  was  able  to  undersell  its  rival,  and 
most  of  the  tea  consumed  in  the  colonies  was  smuggled  in 
from  the  Netherlands.    The  English  duties  on  tea  amounted 
to  about  seventy-five  per  cent.    To  help  the  East  India  Com 
pany,  these  duties  were  remitted  on  all  tea  exported  to  Ire 
land  and  America.    This  was  done  by  one  of  the  Townshend 
Acts,  which  also  levied  a  new  duty  of  three  pence  per  pound 
on  all  tea  landed  in  the  colonies  (1767).     But  this  policy 
was  not  successful,  as  the  East  India  Company  was  obliged 
to  make  good  any  deficiency  in  the  revenue  that  might  re 
sult.     It  was  now  proposed  to  allow  the  Company  to  export 


160  Intercolonial  Union  [§  135 

tea  to  the  colonies  without  any  conditions  except  the  duty  of 
three  pence,  which  would  still  be  collected  in  the  colonies. 
Some  one  suggested  that  the  easiest  way  to  avoid  any  con 
flict  with  the  colonists  would  be  for  the  company  to  pay 
the  latter  tax  in  England  and  add  the  amount  to  the  price 
of  the  tea;  but  the  government  was  immovable  on  that 
point.  They  desired  to  establish  a  precedent  for  the  par- 


'•  A 


J  T^HE  PUBLIC  prefent  their  Compliments  to  Meflieurs 
?  A  JAMES  AND  DRINKER.-— W«  are  informed  that  YOU 
I  have  this  Day  received  your  Commiltvon  to  enft&ve  your  naiive 

•  Country;  and,  as  your  frivolous  Plea  of  having  received  no 
j      Advice,  relative  to  the  fcandalous  Part  you.  were  to  a&t  in  the 

*  TEA-SCHEME,  can  no  longer  fenre  your  Purpofe,  nor  divert  our 
Attention,  WE  ^xpeft  and  defire  YOU  will  immediately  inform 
"the  PUBLIC,  by  a  Line  or  two  to  be  left  at  the  COFFEE  HOUSE, 
"Whether  -jrou  will,   or  will  not,  renounce  all  Pretenftons  to 
execute  that  Commiffion? THAT  WE  MAY  GOVERN  OUR 
SELVES  ACCOKTHHG1.Y. 

I 

Pbiladclfbid,  December  a,  1773. 


A  Tea  Handbill 


liamentary  taxation  of  the  colonies,  and  the  present  op 
portunity  seemed  most  favorable.  The  colonists  would 
obtain  their  tea  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  the  people  of 
England  could  buy  it.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  was 
supposed  that  they  would  not  object  to  paying  the  duty; 
but  the  very  cheapness  of  the  tea  at  once  convinced  the 
colonists  that  all  was  not  right.  They  regarded  it  as  an 
attempt  to  bribe  them  into  a  surrender  of  the  constitutional 
principle  for  which  they  had  been  contending  and  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  it  at  any  price.  The  vessels 


1773] 


Resistance  to  the   Tea   Tax 


161 


bearing  tea  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York  were  allowed 
by  the  authorities  to  leave  port  without  landing  their  car 
goes.  At  Charleston  the  tea  was  stored  until  1776,  when 
it  was  sold  by  the  Carolinians.  At  Boston  the  customs 
authorities,  with  the  support  of  Governor  Hutchinson,  re 
fused  to  permit  the  tea  vessels  to  clear  outwards  unless 
the  tea  were  first  landed.  The  rules  of  the  customs  service 
prescribed  that  goods  which  were  not  landed,  and  on  which 
duties  were  not  paid  within  a  certain  time,  should  be  seized 
by  the  collector  and  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  Mas 
sachusetts  men  were  determined  that  the  tea  should  not  be 
placed  on  the  market,  and  it  was  thrown  into  Boston  harbor 
by  a  mob. 

Not  only  did  this  attempt  to  bribe  the  colonists  into  a  sur 
render  of  their  rights  fail,  but  six  more  colonies  appointed 
Committees  of  Correspondence.  Pennsylvania  alone  held 
back;  with  that  exception  the  colonial  union  was  complete. 

136.  Repressive  Acts,  1774. — The  determined  attitude 
of  the  colonists  greatly  incensed  the  governing  classes  in 
Great  Britain,  and  they  decided  to  punish  the  turbulent 
people  of  Boston  and  Massachusetts.  With  this  end  in 
view,  Parliament  passed  four  acts:  (i)  closing  the  port  of 
Boston  to  commerce;  (2)  suspending  the  operation  of  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts;  (3)  providing  for  the  trial  outside 
of  the  colony  of  persons  (soldiers  and  others)  who  might  be 
charged  with  crime  committed  while  quelling  riots  within 
the  colony;  and  (4)  providing  for  the  quartering  of  British 
troops  within  the  province.  At  about  the  same  time  Parlia 
ment  also  passed  an  act,  known  as  the  Quebec  Act,  which 
extended  the  boundaries  of  that  province  to  the  Ohio  River 
and  established  an  arbitrary  form  of  government  within  it. 
The  rights  of  holders  of  grants  from  the  crown  were  ex 
pressly  reserved  to  them  in  the  act,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  claims  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Pennsylvania 
to  lands  within  the  new  province  would  have  been  recog 
nized.  The  measure  had  been  long  in  preparation,  and  its 
passage  at  the  present  crisis  had  no  relation  to  the  dispute 


The  Boston 
Tea  Party. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
1,82-93; 
Old  South 
Leaflets, 
No.  68, 
Gen.  Ser. 


Massa 
chusetts 
punished, 

1774- 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I-93-97I 

*Froth- 

ingham's 

Republic, 

3i7-327, 

345-358. 


The  Quebec 
Act,  1774. 
Hinsdale's 
Old  North 
west,  141. 


1 62 


Intercolonial  Union 


Demand 

for  a 

Continental 

Congress. 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I,  IOO-IIO. 


Elections 
to  the 
Congress. 


Jefferson's 

Summary 

View. 


with  the  colonies  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  It  was  inevi 
table,  however,  in  the  excited  condition  of  the  colonists' 
minds,  that  they  should  regard  the  Quebec  Act  as  aimed 
against  themselves;  they  saw  in  it  a  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  British  government  to  limit  the  further  extension 
westward  of  the  self-governing  colonies.  This  was  a  matter 
which  appealed  to  them  all,  and  was  the  one  thing  required, 
if  anything  were  needed,  to  unite  them  against  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  British  government.  The  repressive  acts  dealt 
for  the  moment  with  Massachusetts  alone;  but  it  was  clear 
that  if  Parliament  could  overthrow  the  constitution  of  one 
colony,  it  could  of  all,  and  the  interests  of  all  the  colonists 
were  really  involved.  Soon  their  sympathy  was  aroused  by 
the  sufferings  of  the  people  of  Boston.  New  York  and 
Rhode  Island  proposed  that  a  general  congress  should  be 
held;  the  Virginia  burgesses  appointed  a  day  of  fasting, 
and  upon  being  dissolved  for  this  action,  they  formed 
themselves  into  a  convention,  appointed  a  revolutionary 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  advocated  the  holding  of 
annual  intercolonial  congresses,  and  voted  that  "  an  attack 
upon  one  colony  was  an  attack  upon  all  British  America." 
The  actual  call  for  the  congress,  however,  came  from  Massa 
chusetts  (June  17,  1774). 

137.  The  First  Continental  Congress,  1774.  —  Delegates 
to  this  meeting  were  chosen  by  all  the  colonies  save  Geor 
gia, —  in  some  cases  by  the  colonial  assembly,  as  in  Massa 
chusetts,  in  others  by  conventions,  as  in  Virginia;  in  a  few 
colonies,  where  no  such  bodies  were  in  session  or  could  be 
summoned,  the  delegates  were  chosen  by  the  Committees 
of  Correspondence  or  by  the  people  of  the  several  towns 
and  counties.  In  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  the  moder 
ates  and  conservatives,  or  Tories,  as  they  were  called, 
obtained  control;  in  the  other  colonies,  the  radicals  usually 
carried  the  day. 

The  most  important  document  called  forth  by  the  contest 
over  these  elections  was  Thomas  Jefferson's  Summary  View 
of  the  Rights  of  British  America,  which  was  first  drawn  up 


1774]  The  First  Continental  Congress  \§^ 

in  the  form  of  Instructions  to  the  Virginia  Delegates  ;  but  it   American 
was  too  outspoken  for  the  members  of  the  Virginia  conven-   History 
tion,  and  was  not  adopted.     In  this  essay,  Jefferson  boldly   j»joii* 
denied  the   existence  of  a  legislative  union  between  the 
colonies  and  Great  Britain,  and  utterly  refused  to  admit 
the  legislative  supremacy  of  the  British  Parliament,  even 
as  to  external  trade.     On  the  other  hand,  he  declared  that 
the  union  was  simply  through  the  crown,  as  the  union  be 
tween  England  and  Scotland  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
He  enumerated  many  acts  of  injustice  on  the  part  of  the 
British  king  and  urged  the  appointment  of  an  American 
secretary  for  the  colonies. 

The  congress  met  at  Philadelphia  on  September  5,  1774.    Meeting  of 
Franklin  was  still  in  England,  and  Jefferson  was  not  selected   Congress, 
as  a  delegate  by  the   Virginia  convention.      With   those   delegate's 
exceptions,  all  the  ablest  men  then  in  political  life  were   *Froth- 
present.      From    Massachusetts   came    the    two    Adamses,    ingham's 
Samuel,  the  first  American  politician,  and  John,  the  keen 
constitutional  lawyer;    mental  disease,  greatly  intensified 
by  blows  which  he  had  received  from  a  British  official, 
incapacitated  Otis   from   further  service.     Rhode    Island 
sent  her  venerable  judge,  Stephen  Hopkins,  and  Connecti 
cut  was  represented  by  Roger  Sherman,  whose  long  services 
in  Congress  have  given  him  an  honored  place  in  American 
history.     John  Jay,  the  first  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States,  came  from  New  York,  John  Dickinson  from  Penn 
sylvania,  and  John  Rutledge  from  South  Carolina.     Virginia 
was  represented  by  a  remarkable  group  of  men :   George 
Washington,  whose  sound  judgment  and  solid  information 
made  him  the  foremost  member  of  the  congress,  Patrick 
Henry,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  Peyton  Randolph. 

The   congress  adopted  a  Declaration  of   Rights  which    Declaration 
was  not  much  more  radical  in  tone  than  that  of  the  Stamp   of  R'ghts. 
Act   Congress,   and  was  much   milder   than  the    one   ad-    Ip7r40'th_ 
vocated  by  Jefferson  in  the   Summary   View.     The  more   ingham's 
important  work  of  this  congress  was  the  establishment  of   RePubhc> 
the  American  Association,  designed  to  secure  the  enforce-   37*' 


164 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§138 


English 
government 
declares 
Massachu 
setts  in 
rebellion. 


ment  of  a  general  non-importation  and  non-consumption 
agreement.  The  execution  of  this  policy  was  no  longer  to 
be  left  to  chance :  the  congress  recommended  the  election 
of  a  committee  by  the  county,  town,  or  other  local  adminis 
trative  unit  in  each  colony,  which  should  oversee  the  carry 
ing  out  of  non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain.  These  local 
committees  were  to  be  supervised  by  the  colonial  Com 
mittees  of  Correspondence;  the  names  of  all  offenders 
against  the  agreement  should  be  published;  and  any  colony 
which  declined  to  enter  the  association  should  be  regarded 
as  hostile  to  "the  liberties  of  this  country,"  and  denied  all 
intercourse  with  the  members  of  the  association.  In  this 
manner,  by  the  union  of  local  and  colonial  committees 
under  the  leadership  of  continental  congresses,  a  political 
organization  was  formed  so  perfect  that  it  controlled  the 
actions  of  individuals  in  all  walks  of  life.  Congress  ad 
journed  in  October,  after  providing  for  the  assembling  of 
a  new  congress  in  May,  1775,  unless  the  grievances  of  the 
colonists  were  redressed  before  that  time. 

138.  More  Repressive  Measures,  1774,  1775.  —  A  general 
election  for  members  of  a  new  Parliament  was  held  towards 
the  end  of  1774,  and  the  electors,  by  returning  an  over 
whelming  majority  for  the  government,  showed  that  they 
agreed  fully  with  the  king  and  his  ministers  in  their 
desire  to  compel  the  colonists  to  obey  acts  of  Parliament. 
The  government  at  once  introduced  several  bills  to  carry 
out  their  policy  of  repression.  These  were  rapidly  passed 
by  both  houses  and  became  law.  By  them  the  New  Eng 
land  colonists  were  cut  off  from  all  trade  except  with  Great 
Britain,  Ireland,  the  West  Indies,  and  the  continental  colo 
nies  of  New  York,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia;  for  these 
last  seemed  to  be  more  submissive  than  the  others.  Massa 
chusetts  was  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  .and 
measures  were  at  once  taken  to  put  the  insurrection  down 
by  force.  To  this  policy,  the  opposition  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  led  by  Burke  and  Charles  James  Fox,  offered 
stout  resistance,  but  their  espousal  of  the  colonial  cause 


1775]  Lexington  and  Concord  165 

only  deepened  the  hostility  of  the  king.     Chatham's  pro-   Chatham's 
posals  for  a  more  conciliatory  policy  were  set  aside  with   advice- 
contempt.     Instead,  Lord  North,  who  was  now  at  the  head   Leaflets 
of  the  government,  suggested  that  Parliament  would  not   iv,  No.  2; 
tax  the  colonists  provided  they  would  tax  themselves  to  the   Adams  s 

_      .        British  Ora 

satisfaction  of    Parliament, —  a  proposition  which   Burke   tions,\,\^, 
rightly  characterized  as  offering  them  "  the  very  grievance 
for  the  remedy." 

139.    Lexington  and  Concord,   April  19,    1775.  —  Mean-   Gage  at 
time,  in  Massachusetts,  affairs  had  come  to  a  crisis.     The   Boston- 

Winsor's 

government  of  that  province,  under  the  new  order  of  things,  America, 
had  been  confided  to  General  Gage,  the  commander  in  vi,  113-125. 
chief  of  the  British  army  in  America,  and  he  had  come  to 
Boston  at  the  head  of  a  small  force  of  troops.  He  was  a 
weak,  foolish,  and  imprudent  man,  who  annoyed  the  colo 
nists  by  a  series  of  petty  hostilities.  In  September  (1774) 
he  summoned  the  General  Court  to  meet  at  Salem,  the  new 
capital  of  the  province,  in  the  following  October,  but  after 
wards  put  off  its  assembling,  as  affairs  had  taken  on  a  very  Massa- 
threatening  aspect.  The  representatives,  however,  met  at  chusetts 
the  appointed  time,  formed  themselves  into  a  Provincial 
Congress,  adjourned  to  Cambridge,  and  assumed  the  govern 
ment  of  the  province  outside  of  Boston  and  other  territory 
controlled  by  the  soldiers.  They  appointed  a  receiver- 
general  and  advised  the  town  officials  to  pay  their  propor 
tions  of  the  public  taxes  to  him  and  not  to  Gage's  treasurer. 
The  Provincial  Congress  also  began  the  reorganization  of 
the  military  forces  of  the  colony,  and  appointed  a  Com 
mittee  of  Safety,  which,  with  other  committees,  performed 
the  administrative  functions.  The  theory  under  which  the 
radical  leaders  thus  assumed  the  government  was  that  as 
Parliament  had  no  constitutional  power  to  suspend  the  oper 
ation  of  the  charter,  the  government  set  up  under  the  sus 
pending  act  was  in  itself  illegal.  The  charter,  according  to 
this  idea,  was  still  in  force,  and  as  Gage,  the  king's  repre 
sentative,  would  not  govern  according  to  its  provisions,  the 
people  of  the  colony  must  provide  for  their  own  welfare. 


1 66 


Intercolonial  Union 


[§ 


Lexington, 
April,  1775. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
I,  120-123. 


Concord. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
123-128. 

Emerson's 
address, 
etc.,  in  Old 
youth 
Leaflets, 
I,  No.  3. 


Gage,  on  his  part,  found  himself  almost  powerless  in 
Boston,  —  the  people  would  not  work  for  him,  and  the 
farmers  of  the  neighboring  country  would  not  sell  him  sup 
plies  for  his  soldiers.  Moreover,  throughout  the  province, 
everywhere  drilling  and  arming  were  in  progress.  He  de 
termined  to  disarm  the  people.  His  first  attempt  to  seize 
stores  at  Salem  ended  in  a  ridiculous  failure,  but  no  blood 
was  shed.  On  the  night  of  the  i8th  of  April,  he  detached 
a  large  body  of  men  to  seize  stores  which  were  said  to  be 
concealed  at  Concord.  The  march  of  the  troops  was  to  be 
secret,  but  fearless  riders  carried  the  news  of  the  soldiers 
coming  to  Lexington  and  to  Concord.  On  the  morning  of 
the  iQth  of  April,  when  the  British  soldiers  reached  Lexing 
ton,  a  small  body  of  militiamen  was  seen  drawn  up  on  the 
town  common.  They  dispersed  when  the  size  of  the  British 
column  was  apparent.  Some  one  fired,  whether  American 
or  Briton  will  never  be  known ;  several  were  killed  and 
others  wounded. 

The  soldiers  pressed  on  to  Concord,  to  find  that  most 
of  the  supplies  had  been  removed ;  there,  a  skirmish 
occurred  with  the  militiamen,  and  the  homeward  march 
was  one  continuous  conflict.  The  colonists  pursued  the 
retreating  soldiers  until  the  guns  of  the  men-of-war  an 
chored  off  Charlestown  gave  them  protection ;  the  provin 
cials  then  withdrew  and,  instead  of  seeking  their  homes, 
encamped  for  the  night  at  Cambridge,  and  began  the 
blockade  or  siege  of  Boston. 


SUGGESTIVE   QUESTIONS  AND   TOPICS 
§§  113-116.   ENGLAND'S  COLONIAL  POLICY 

a.  What  is  a  "bounty"  ?     Just  how  is  it  paid?     In  the  history  of 
the  United  States  what  bounties  have  been  paid  ? 

b.  Look  up  the  subject  of  "general  warrants"  in  English  history. 
Get  a  warrant   from   your   town   officials,   and   note   its   exactness   of 
description.     What  is  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  as  to  general 
warrants  ?     What  of  the  constitution  of  vour  state  ? 


Questions  and  Topics  167 

§§  117,  1 1 8.    AMERICAN  POLITICAL  THEORIES 

a.  Read  Locke's  Second  Essay  on  Government.    Note  its  fundamental 
ideas  ;  watch  for  their  enunciation  in  American  political  documents. 

b.  What  is  the  fundamental  argument  of  both  Otis  and  Henry  ? 

§§  119-123.  AMERICAN  AND  BRITISH  THEORIES 

a.  Was   Grenville's    contention  —  that    the    colonists   should    obey 
Acts  of  Parliament  and  pay  a  portion  of  the  expense  incurred  in  their 
defense  —  intrinsically  just  ?     Give  your  reasons. 

b.  What  are  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  a  stamp  duty  ? 
Why  should  we  not  have  such  a  tax  to-day  ? 

c.  Why  has  trial  by  jury  been   called   "  the  most  democratical  of 
judicial  institutions"  ?     Give  arguments  for  and  against  it.     Ask  some 
friend  of  yours,  who  is  a  lawyer,  to  explain  this  to  you. 

d.  Requirement    of   residence    for    elector   and    for   representative. 
Give   the  arguments  for  and  against  this   requirement.     How  is  the 
matter  arranged  in  the  Constitution  ?  in  the  constitution  of  your  own 
state  ?     What  is  the  practice  in  your  own  city  or  town  or  district  ? 

§§  124-126.  THE  STAMP  ACT 

a.  Under  what  heading  in  your  note-book  should  the  "  Declaration  of 
Rights"  be  entered,  and  why  ?     State  the  five  principles  it  enunciates. 

b.  State  at  length  and    compare   the  leading  points   in   Pitt's  and 
Mansfield's  speeches  ;  in  Grenville's  and  Camden's. 

§§  127-134.  THE  TOWNSHEND  ACTS 

a.  Enumerate   the   Townshend   Acts,   and   state  what  principle   of 
government  each  one  violated. 

b.  W?hy  did  these  Acts  bear  most  heavily  upon  New  England  ? 

c.  What  was  the  first  step  in  the  formation  of  a  complete  revolution 
ary  organization  ?  the  second  step  ?  the  third  step  ?  the  fourth  step  ? 

§§  I35~I39-  COLONIAL  UNION  AND  REBELLION 

a.  Were  the  acts  of  1774  "illegal"?     Precisely  what  is  meant  by 
"illegal"?     Why  was  the  first  act  declared  by  Burke  to  be  unjust? 
The  second  act  has  been  called  the  most  serious  of  all  the  grievances 
which  led  to  the  Revolution  ;  why  ? 

b.  Compare  the   Stamp  Act  Congress,  the    First   Continental  Con 
gress,  and  the  Second  Continental  Congress.     Had  any  of  these  bodies 
any  legal  standing  ?     Prove  your  answer. 

c.  Compare  the  "  American  Association  "  with  associations  of  the 
present  day  ;    e.g.  of  Railway  Employees. 


1 68  Intercolonial  Union 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

Represent  in  colors  upon  your  Map  of  the  Proclamation  of  1763  the 
boundaries  of  Quebec  under  the  Act  of  1774,'and  make  any  necessary 
change  in  the  map  of  your  state. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Collect  from  this  and  the   preceding  chapter   examples  of  the 
irritating  effect  of  the  Navigation  Acts. 

b.  State  the  several  steps  towards  colonial  union  which  you  have  so 
far  met,  and  note  in  each  the  strength  or  weakness  of  the  federal  tie. 

c.  What  was  the  fundamental  cause  of  the  separation  of  the  colo 
nies  from  the  British  Empire  ? 

d.  Collect   in  separate  lists  all  the  examples  of  the  four  different 
means  of  resistance  used  by  the  colonists,  —  protests,  riots,  non-impor 
tation,  congresses. 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 
(See  directions  under  this  head  on  p.  48.) 

a.  Where  was  the  first  shot  fired  that  "  was  heard  around  the  world  "  ? 
Was  it  a  British  or  an  American  shot  ?     Sources,  Guide,  p.  295. 

b.  Compare  Jefferson's  Summary  View  and  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence  (p.  163). 

c.  Destruction  of  the  Gaspee.     Sources,  Guide,  p.  293. 

d.  The  Boston  Massacre  (p.  155). 

e.  Franklin's  examination  (p.  148). 

/  Compare  account  of  early  life  of  Patrick  Henry  in  Wirt's  Henry 
and  in  Tyler's  Henry. 


CHAPTER  V 

INDEPENDENCE,    1775-1783 

Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings. — Lodge's  English  Colonies,  492-521;  Higgin- 
son's  Larger  History,  249-293  ;  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union,  70-106; 
Fiske's  War  of  Independence,  86-193  and  Civil  Government,  161-180. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Sloane's  French  War  and  the  Revolution, 
192-388  ;  Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic  ;  Winsor's  America,  VI, 
VII;  Fiske's  American  Revolution  ;  Greene's  Historical  View;  *Ban- 
croft's  United  States ;  *Hildreth's  United  States;  *Lecky's  England, 
IV,  chs.  xiv,  xv ;  *Mahon's  England ';  Carrington's  Battles  of  the  Ameri 
can  Revolution  ;  Hosmer's  Samuel  Adams  (S.  S.)  ;  Morse's y<?//;j  Adams 
(S.  S.);  Bigelow's  Franklin  ;  Lodge's  Washington  (S.  S.)  ;  Pellew!s/«y 
(S.  S.);  Sumner's  Robert  Morris  ;  Schouler's/^r.ww  (M.  A.);  Lowell's 
Hessians  ;  Greene's  German  Element ;  Winsor's  Memorial  History  of 
Boston;  Grant's  Memorial  History  of  ATew  York;  Larned's  History  for 
Ready  Reference,  under  United  States  and  the  several  states. 

Sources.  —  Biographies  and  writings  of  Samuel  Adams,  John 
Adams,  Burgoyne,  Dickinson,  Franklin,  Greene,  Hamilton,  Henry, 
Jay,  Jefferson,  Lafayette,  R.  H.  Lee,  Pickering,  Shelburne,  and  Wash 
ington,  see  Guide,  §§  135,  25,  32,  33  ;  Annual  Register ;  Chandler's 
American  Criminal  Trials ;  Sparks's  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of 
the  Revolution  ;  Wharton's  Revolutionary  Diplomatic  Correspondence  ; 
Hart's  Contemporaries,  Vol.  II;  Donne's  Correspondence  of  George 
III  and  Lord  North  ;  Journals  of  Congress  ;  Secret  Journals  of  Con 
gress  ;  Force's  American  Archives;  Stedman  and  Hutchinson's 
Library  of  American  Literature ;  Niles's  Principles  and  Acts  of  the 
Revolution;  American  History  Leaflets ;  MacDonald's  Documents. 

Maps.  —  Mac  Coun's  Historical  Geography;  Carrington's  Battles; 
Winsor's  America  ;  Lowell's  Hessians  ;  Hart's  Epoch  Maps,  No.  6. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a,  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  135-141  (Topics  and  References). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West,  II  ; 
Longfellow's  Paul  Revere1  s  Ride  ;  Holmes's  Grandmother 's  Story  of 
Bunker  Hill ;  Mrs.  Child's  The  Rebels ;  Eggleston's  American  War 

169 


I/O 


Independence 


[§ 


Ballads;  Moore's  Ballads  of  the  American  Revolution;  Sargent's 
Loyalist  Poetry  of  the  Revolution  ;  Campbell's  Gertrude  of  Wyoming; 
Dunlap's  Andre;  Freneau's  Poems ;  Hopkinson's  Battle  of  the  Kegs; 
Cooke's  Bonnybel  Vane;  Cooper's  Lionel  Lincoln  (Bunker  Hill), 
The  Pilot,  The  Spy ;  Bret  Harte's  Thankful  Blossom;  Cooke's  Vir 
ginia  (A.  C.)  ;  Hawthorne's  Septimius  Felton ;  Kennedy's  Horseshoe 
Robinson  ;  Paulding's  The  Old  Continental;  Roe's  Near  to  Nature's 
Heart ;  Simms's  The  Partisan,  Alellichampe,  The  Scout,  Katharine 
Walton,  The  Foragers,  Eutaw  ;  Parton's  Franklin  and  Jefferson; 
Lossing's  Field- Book  of  the  Revolution  ;  *Parker's  Historic  Americans  ; 
Burke's  Speeches  on  Conciliation  with  America  ;  *Junes's  New  York 
in  the  Revolutionary  IVar ;  *  Lossing's  Life  of  Sc/iuyler ;  *  Rush's 
Washington  in  Domestic  Life;  Stille's  Beaumarchais ;  Hale's  Frank 
lin  in  France  ;  Sabine's  Loyalists  ;  Tyler's  Literature  of  the  Revolution; 
Sullivan's  Public  Men  of  the  Revolution;  Bynner's  Agnes  Surriage  ; 
Brackenridge's  Bunker  Hill;  Harold  Frederic's  In  the  Valley;  Altsheler's 
Sun  of  Saratoga. 


INDEPENDENCE,  1775-1783 

140.  Material  Prosperity,  1775. — Notwithstanding  the 
controversies  and  conflicts  described  in  the  last  chapter, 
the  years  1760  to  1775  marked  a  period  of  great  material 
development.  The  population  of  the  colonies  had  in 
creased  marvellously,  from  about  sixteen  hundred  thousand 
in  1760  to  about  twenty-five  hundred  thousand  in  1775. 
Trade  and  commerce  had  thriven;  for,  although  the  naviga 
tion  laws  and  the  acts  of  trade  would  have  borne  harshly  on 
the  mercantile  colonies,  had  they  been  enforced,  the  injury 
they  inflicted  was  trifling,  as  they  were  never  carried  out. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  large  amount  of  money  was  paid  to 
the  colonists  in  the  way  of  premiums  and  bounties  on 
colonial  staples. 

The  laws  designed  to  cramp  colonial  manufacturing  pre 
vented  the  growth  of  industry  and  worked  great  hardship. 
Among  the  last  of  these  laws  was  one  which  prohibited  the 
export  of  any  machinery  or  patterns  of  machinery  from 
England  (1770).  The  aim  of  this  enactment  was  to  pre 
vent  the  establishment  of  textile  industries  in  the  colonies, 
Combined  with  the  prohibition  of  the  manufacture  of  wool 


1775]  Advantages  of  the  Colonists  171 

and  iron,  this  act  may  be  regarded  as  showing  a  determina 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  rulers  of  England  to  prevent  the 
establishment  of  manufacturing  industries  in  the  colonies 
and  to  restrain  the  colonists  to  agricultural  and  commercial 
pursuits.  Notwithstanding  these  prohibitions  and  restric-  \ 
tions,  the  colonies  were  practically  s_elf-sus  tain  ing  in  1775, 
although  the  interruption  of  foreign  trade  deprived  them 
of  articles  of  everyday  use  which  were  not  actually  neces 
sary  to  existence  and  yet  cannot  be  regarded  as  luxuries. 
Arms  and  military  equipments  were  not  produced  in  any 
quantity  in  America;  those  needed  during  the  war  were 
mainly  obtained  from  the  French,  although  some  were  cap 
tured  from  the  British. 

141.    Advantages  of  the  Colonists.  —  The  colonists  were   Reasons 
greatly  inferior  in  numbers  and  in  resources  to  the  people   for  t] 
of  Great  Britain.     That  they  were  able  to  limit  the  British   success. 
to  the  occupation  of  a  few  seaboard  towns,  and  finally  to 
achieve  their  independence,  was  due  (i)  to  the  defective 
strategy  of  the  British,  (2)  to  the  aid  given  by  the  French, 
and  (3)  to  the  nature  of  the  field  of  operations.     As  to  the 
first  of  these,  it  is  not  -necessary  to  say  much.     The  British   inferiority 

commanders  were  generally  inferior  to  the  American  ;  it  is   °  Brltls  1 

*  >  com- 

indeed   extraordinary  how  few   men   of   ability  the    British   manders. 

army  contained.  But  the  fundamental  plan  of  their  cam 
paign  was  wrong,  as  they  sought  to  occupy  territory  instead 
of  crushing  opposition. 

Without  the  aid  given  by  the  French,  at  first  in  the  form  French  aid. 
of  w^rjnaterials,  and  later  in  the  shape  of  liberal  contribu 
tions  of  money,  a  splendid  army,  and  a  formidable  naval 
force,  the  war  certainly  would  not  have  been  brought  to  a 
successful  termination  in  1781,  although  the  colonists  prob 
ably  would  have  succeeded  in  the  end. 

The    geographical    features   of   the   country  east   of  the   Geographical 
Alleghany  Mountains  greatly  assisted   the  successful   resist-   features- 
ance   of  the  colonists.     From   north  to  south,  the   theater 
of  war  measured   more   than  a  thousand   miles  in  extent, 
but    from    east    to    west    the    distance    was    very     much 


1/2 


Independence 


[§142 


Siege  of 

Boston, 

1775-76. 

Winsor's 

America, 

VI,  128-134 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I,  136-146. 


Bunker  Hill. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  134-140. 


less:  in  some  regions  it  was  not  a  hundred  miles  wide. 
When  hard  pressed,  the  colonial  armies  were  nearly  always 
able  to  retire  to  inaccessible  hilly  regions,  where  pursuit 
was  dangerous,  if  not  impossible.  The  long,  thin  fringe 
of  the  continent  was  intersected  by  large  and  deep  rivers 
and  by  arms  of  the  sea :  there  were  a  dozen  fields  of  opera 
tion  in  place  of  one.  For  instance,  the  Hudson  River, 
with  Lake  Champlain,  divided  New  England  from  the  rest 
of  the  continent  (p.  n);  the  Mohawk  separated  the  Hud 
son  valley  into  two  distinct  parts;  Delaware  and  Chesa 
peake  bays  and  the  rivers  of  Virginia  (p.  497)  made  a 
campaign  of  invasion  south  of  the  Hudson  a  matter  of  great 
difficulty;  and  the  Carolinas  were  cut  up  into  several  geo 
graphical  districts  by  marshes,  by  large  regions  of  sandy, 
sparsely  settled  country,  and  by  long  deep  rivers  extremely 
subject  to  floods.  Portions  of  this  territory  were  still  hardly 
better  than  a  wilderness:  good  roads,  suitable  for  the 
movement  of  army  trains  and  artillery,  were  to  be  found 
only  in  the  vicinity  of  the  larger  towns;  and  even  these 
were  impassable  during  a  large  portion  of  each  year.  On 
the  other  hand,  good  harbors  everywhere  abounded  and 
made  the  business  of  the  privateer  and  the  blockade  runner 
peculiarly  easy. 

142.  Bunker  Hill,  1775. — The  siege  or  blockade  of 
Boston  lasted  for  almost  eleven  months,  from  April  19, 
1775,  to  March  17,  1776.  During  those  months,  a  force 
drawn  from  all  the  New  England  colonies,  and,  after  July, 
1775,  from  the  other  colonies  as  well,  blockaded  the  British 
army.  In  all  this  time  there  was  but  one  action  deserving 
the  name  of  battle, —  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  On  June 
1 6  reports  reached  the  colonial  headquarters  that  the 
British  commander  intended  to  seize  Dorchester  Heights. 
To  divert  him  from  the  execution  of  this  plan,  the  Com 
mittee  of  Safety  ordered  the  seizure  of  Bunker  Hill.  On 
the  night  of  the  i6th,  Colonel  Prescott  occupied  Breed's 
Hill,  which  was  nearer  Boston.  When  day  dawned,  he  must 
have  seen  that  his  position  was  untenable :  there  were  no 


1775] 


Bunker  Hill 


173 


batteries  on  the  mainland  to  guard  the  neck  leading  to 
Charlestown;  it  was  possible  for  Gage  to  station  vessels 
in  the  Charles  and  Mystic  rivers  and  concentrate  such  a 
fire  on  the  isthmus  that  no  one  could  cross  it;  the  British 
could  then  occupy  Bunker  Hill  and  hold  the  force  in  the 
redoubt  at  their  mercy.  On  the  morning  of  the  iyth, 
Stark  and  his  men  from  New  Hampshire  hastened  to 


Joseph  Warren 
(Killed  at  Bunker  Hill) 

Prescott's  succor.  Under  Gage's  orders,  five  thousand 
British  soldiers,  commanded  by  Howe,  Clinton,  and  Pigott, 
attacked  the  Americans  in  front;  they  were  twice  beaten 
back,  and  only  the  failure  of  the  American  ammunition 
made  their  third  assault  a  success.  The  British  loss  on  that 
day  was  from  one  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  men;  that 
of  the  colonists  was  about  four  hundred.  The  Americans 
were  beaten,  although  they  were  not  captured  to  a  man, 


George  Washington,   1772 
After  a  painting  by  C.  W.  Peale  — the  earliest  known  portrait  of  Washington 


1776]  Evacuation  of  Boston  175 

as  they  should  have  been.     Seldom  has  a  defeat  proved  so 

inspiriting  to  the  vanquished  and  so  disheartening  to  the 

victors.     The  caution  which  Howe, 

who  soon  succeeded    Gage,    showed 

as  long  as  he  commanded  the  British 

army  can  be  traced  directly  to  the  lesson  he  received  on 

this  memorable  field. 

143.    Evacuation  of  Boston,  1776.  —  Meantime,  the  Sec-   Continental 
ond  Continental  Congress  had  met  at  Philadelphia  in  May   Congress 

/  \      i      i        i  \  i      i      T          r»  assumes 

(1775),   had  adopted   the   army  blockading   Boston   as   a   charge  of 
national  force,  and  had  given  it  a  commander, —  Colonel   war.    Fiske's 
George  Washington  of  Virginia.     He  assumed   direction 
of  the  military  operations  on  July  3,    1775,   and  at  once   *Froth- 
found  that  he  had  a  most  disheartening  task  before  him.    ingham's 
A  full  understanding  of  the  difficulties  which  beset  him  can 
best  be  learned  from  his  correspondence :  his  army,  based 
on  short  terms  of  enlistment,  constantly  changed  in  number 
and  personnel;  he  had  no  heavy  guns  suited  to  siege  opera 
tions,  and  for  weeks  at  a  time  had  no  powder,  save  what 
the  men  had  in  their  pouches.     Washington  was  obliged  to 
present  a  bold  front  to  the  enemy,  but  was  unable  to  under 
take  any  active  movement  or  to  explain  the  reasons  for  his 
inaction.      In   the  winter  of   1775-76,  heavy  guns,  which   Fiske's 
had   been  captured    in    May,    1775,   at   Ticonderoga   and   Devolution 
Crown  Point,   by  men  from  western   New  England,  were 
drawn  over  the  snow  to  his  lines,   and  the  capture  of  a 
British  vessel  provided  the  necessary  powder.      Now,   at   Evacuation 
last,   Washington  was  able  to  assume  the  offensive.       In   Of  Boston. 
March,  1776,  he  seized  and  held  Dorchester  Heights.     The   Winsor's 
town  and  harbor  of  Boston  could  no  longer  be  held  by  the 
British,   and  on  March   17  they  evacuated  the  town,  and 
shortly  after  left  the  harbor.  Invasion 

Meantime   two  columns,   led    by  Richard    Montgomery    winsor's* 
and  Benedict  Arnold,  had  invaded  Canada.     Montgomery   America, 
perished. gallantly  under  the  walls  of  Quebec.     The  rem-   VI,  160-167; 
nants  of  these  forces  were  rescued  with  the  greatest  diffi-   ^evllution 
culty  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1776.  1, 164-169. 


176 


Independence 


[§'45 


Change  of 
sentiment 
in  regard  to 
independ 
ence, 
1775-76. 


Jefferson  in 
Congress. 


The  "  Olive 

Branch 

Petition," 

1775.    Froth- 

ingham's 

Republic, 

435,  444-447, 


Effect  of 
the  king's 
answer. 


Changes 
in  local 
government. 


144.  Growth    towards    Independence,   1775,    1776.  —  In 
1776,  Washington  wrote,  "When  I  took  command  of  the 
army  [July,  1775],  I  abhorred  the  idea  of  independence; 
now,  I  am  convinced,  nothing  else  will  save  us."     There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  Washington's  feelings  on 
this  subject  were  those  of  a  large  portion  of  his  country 
men.     Between  July,   1775,  and  May,  1776,  there  was  a 
great  revulsion  of  feeling  against  the  further  continuance 
of  the  union  with  Great  Britain.     This  change  in  the  senti 
ments  of  thousands    of  colonists   can    be  traced   directly 
to  a  few  leading  causes:  (i)  the  contemptuous  refusal  by 
George  III  of  the  "Olive  Branch"  petition;  (2)  the  for 
mation  of  the  state  governments;  (3)  the  establishment  of 
.a  national  organization;  (4)  the  arguments  embodied  in 
the  writings  of  Thomas  Paine;  and  (5)  the  employment 
of  the  "Hessian"  soldiers  by  the  British  government. 

In  1775  Thomas  Jefferson  succeeded  Washington  as  a 
member  of  the  Virginia  delegation.  It  is  not  probable 
that  he  at  once  exerted  much  influence  in  Congress;  but 
the  petition  which  that  body  addressed  to  the  king  in  July, 
1775,  was  much  bolder  in  tone  than  the  preceding  pe 
tition.  Congress  now  demanded  the  repeal  of  "such 
statutes  as  more  immediately  distress  any  of  your  Majesty's 
Colonies."  The  king  refused  even  to  return  a  formal 
answer  to  this  "Olive  Branch"  petition,  as  the  colonists 
regarded  it;  instead  he  issued  a  proclamation  denouncing 
the  colonists  as  "dangerous  and  ill-designing  men  .  .  . 
who  had  at  length  proceeded  to  an  open  and  avowed 
rebellion."  As  to  the  effect  of  this  proclamation  on  the 
public  mind,  John  Jay  wrote,  "Until  after  the  rejection 
of  the  second  petition  of  Congress  in  1775,  I  never  heard 
an  American  of  any  class  or  qf  any  description  express  a 
wish  for  the  independence  of  the  colonies." 

145.  The   State    Constitutions,    1775,    1776. — Another 
important  step  in  bringing  about  the  change  in  sentiment 
noted  in  the  preceding  section,  was  the  necessity  for  mak 
ing  new  provisions  for  government  in  the  several  colonies. 


1 776] 


TJie  State  Constitutions 


177 


In  some  cases,  as  in  Virginia  and  New  Hampshire,  the 
departure  of  the  royal  governors  left  the  people  without  any 
government;  in  other  cases,  as  in  Massachusetts,  resistance 
to  the  royal  authorities  made  new  arrangements  necessary. 
In  the  last-named  colony,  a  revolutionary  body  termed  the 
Provincial  Congress  had  assumed  charge  of  the  government 
of  the  province.  The  people,  however,  were  restless,  and 
those  in  power  turned  to  the  Continental  Congress  for 
advice.  On  June  9,  1775,  that  body  voted,  that  as  no 
obedience  was  due  to  the  act  of  Parliament  altering  the 
charter  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  nor  to  a  governor 
who  would  not  govern  according  to  the  charter,  he  should 
be  considered  as  absent  and  the  colonists  advised  to  pro 
ceed  under  the  charter  without  a  governor  "  until  a  governor 
of  his  Majesty's  appointment  will  consent  to  govern  the 
colony  according  to  the  charter."  The  condition  of  affairs 
in  New  Hampshire  was  different,  as  that  province  had  no 
charter  to  fall  back  upon:  Congress,  therefore,  voted  in 
her  case  (November,  1775),  "That  it  be  recommended  to 
the  provincial  convention  of  New  Hampshire  to  call  a  full 
and  free  representation  of  the  people  .  .  .  [to]  establish 
such  a  form  of  government  as  in  their  judgment  will  best 
produce  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  most  effectually 
secure  peace  and  good  order  in  that  province,  during  the 
continuance  of  the  present  dispute  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  colonies."  Both  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp 
shire  proceeded  in  accordance  with  the  advice  of  Congress. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  Congress  in  these  votes  provided 
only  for  a  temporary  arrangement  and  evinced  no  desire 
for  independence. 

By  May  of  the  next  year,  the  temper  of  Congress  and  of 
the  people  had  undergone  a  radical  change.  On  May  15 
(1776)  Congress  recommended  "the  respective  assemblies 
and  conventions  of  the  United  Colonies,  where  no  govern 
ment  sufficient  to  the  exigencies  of  their  affairs  hath  been 
hitherto  established,  to  adopt  such  a  government  as  shall 
in  the  opinion  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  best 


Advice  of 
Congress, 
1775- 


Advice  of 

Congress, 

1776. 

*Froth- 

ingham's 

Republic, 

496-498. 


1 78 


Independence 


[§146 


Early  state 
constitutions. 
Charters  and 
Constitutions 
of  the  United 
States. 


Authority 
of  the 

Continental 
Congress. 


conduce  to  the  happiness  and  safety  of  their  constituents 
in  particular,  and  of  America  in  general."  Among  the 
first  colonies  to  act  under  this  suggestion  was  Virginia, 
which  was  at  the  moment  governed  by  a  convention  elected 
by  the  people.  It  adopted  (June,  1776)  a  constitution 
which  consisted  of  three  parts:  a  Bill  of  Rights  by  George 
Mason,  a  Declaration  of  Independence  by  Thomas  Jef 
ferson,  and  a  Frame  of  Government.  The  first  of  these 
contains  an  admirable  exposition  of  the  American  theory 
of  government,  equaled  in  that  respect  only  by  the  Decla 
ration  of  Independence  of  July,  1776,  and  by  the  Bill  of 
Rights  drawn  by  John  Adams  and  prefixed  to  the  Massa 
chusetts  constitution  of  1780.  The  clause  in  the  Virginia 
Bill  of  Rights  declaring  for  freedom  of  religion  was  the 
earliest  enunciation  on  that  subject  during  the  Revolution 
ary  era;  it  was  probably  the  work  of  Madison  and  Patrick 
Henry.  None  of  these  early  constitutions  was  submitted 
to  the  people  for  ratification,  with  the  exception  of  that 
of  Massachusetts  (1780),  which  was  also  drafted  by  a  body 
especially  chosen  by  the  people  for  that  purpose.  The 
South  Carolina  constitution,  on  the  other  hand,  was  merely 
an  act  of  the  legislative  body.  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  proceeded  under  their  seventeenth-century  charters, 
with  scarcely  any  changes  at  all. 

146.  Organization  of  a  General  Government.  —  Still  an 
other  thing  which  turned  the  thoughts  of  the  colonists  in 
the  direction  of  independence  was  the  establishment  of 
a  general  government.  The  First  Continental  Congress 
(1774)  resembled  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  (1765)  in  being 
simply  an  advisory  body.  The  Second  Continental  Con 
gress  was  at  first  an  advisory  body;  but  the  march  of  events 
speedily  compelled  it  to  assume  and  exercise  sovereign 
powers:  in  June,  1775,  it  took  charge  of  the  general 
defense  of  the  colonies,  set  on  foot  an  army,  and  drew 
up  regulations  for  its  government;  it  established  "a 
Committee  of  Correspondence  with  our  friends  abroad  " 
(November,  1775),  and  from  that  time  assumed  the  ex- 


1776]      Organization  of  a  General  Government     179 

elusive  management  of  foreign  affairs;  it  also  issued  paper 
money  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  soldiers  and 
for  supplying  the  army  with  provisions.  In  fine,  it  exer 
cised  in  the  colonies  functions  which,  up  to  that  time,  had 
been  performed  by  the  British  government. 

The   attention   of   the   people  was   especially  directed 
toward  the  subject  of  independence  by  the  arguments  set  writings. 

T    H    fi 

AMERICAN  CRISIS, 

NUMBER  I. 
BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  COMMON  SENSE. 


T 


HESE  are  the  times  that  try  men's  foots:  The 
fammer  foldier  and  the  Cuufhioe  patriot  will;  fn  ibis 
crifis  ihriuk  fiomthr  fervice  ol  hiscpoi.t'y  :  but  lie 
that  Hands  it  »cw  dtftrves  «hc  love  and  thanks  oF 

(Reprinted  in  Old  South  Leaflets,  IV,  No.  4) 


forth  by  Thomas  Paine  in  a  remarkable  pamphlet  entitled  Fiske's 

Common  Sense.     In  this  paper,  he  maintained  in  simple  Revolutwn> 

and  convincing  language  that  reason  dictated  independence,  *Froth- 

because  it  was  improbable  that  foreign  nations  would  inter-  ingham's 

vene  on  the  side  of  the  colonists  so  long  as  they  continued  he^ub  l^> 

.  47J~47"  '• 

to  acknowledge  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain.  Hart's  Con- 
Many  people  were  still  lukewarm  on  this  matter,  when  the  temporaries, 
announcement  reached  America  that  the  British  govern-  IJ>  No' l86* 


180  Independence  [§  147 

ment  was  preparing  to  employ  foreign  soldiers  to  crush 
resistance  in  the  colonies. 

The  147.    The  Hessians.  —  In  the  long  category  of  grievances 

Hessians.  which  forms  so  striking  a  feature  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
America,  pendencc,  is  the  "transporting  [of]  large  armies  of  foreign 
VII,  18-24.  mercenaries"  to  overwhelm  the  colonial  forces.  It  was 
not  exactly  fair  to  call  them  mercenaries,  as  it  was  not 
the  soldiers  who  sold  their  services  to  a  foreign  government, 
but  their  princely  masters,  for  whom,  indeed,  the  word 
"mercenary"  is  far  too  mild.  These  German  veterans 
were  hired  by  the  British  government  from  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse-Cassel  and  other  German  princes.  The  terms  of 
the  contracts  for  the  hiring  of  the  men  were  peculiar,  one 
of  them  making  it  more  profitable  for  the  soldiers  to  be 
killed  in  America  than  to  be  returned  home.  In  all,  they 
numbered  about  thirty  thousand,  eighteen  thousand  of 
whom  arrived  in  1776,  mostly  from  Hesse-Cassel;  for  this 
reason  they  were  generally  known  as  Hessians.  To  the 
British  authorities  there  seemed  nothing  peculiar  in 
employing  them:  the  British  king  was  a  German  prince, 
although  he  himself  had  been  born  in  England;  in  the 
continental  wars  in  which  Great  Britain  had  borne  a  part 
in  the  preceding  half  century,  it  had  always  been  custom 
ary  to  hire  German  troops.  The  only  difference  between 
the  two  cases  was  that  there  the  soldiers  were  employed 
to  fight  against  their  own  flesh  and  blood,  sometimes  sol 
diers  from  the  same  state  being  loaned  to  both  sides;  now, 
however,  they  were  used  by  the  British  government  to  kill 
English  people  who  happened  to  live  beyond  the  ocean. 
This  difference,  however,  was  a  great  one  and  the  opposition 
in  Parliament  endeavored  to  convince  the  government  of  the 
danger  of  employing  them,  but  in  vain :  the  acquisition  of  a 
body  of  splendid  troops  at  a  low  rate  was  viewed  by  the 
mass  of  Englishmen  with  rejoicing.  They  were  good  sol 
diers,  better  suited  perhaps  to  the  cultivated  lands  of 
Europe  than  to  the  wilderness  of  America,  but  they  ren 
dered  good  service  from  a  military  point  of  view.  From 


1776]  The  Declaration  of  Independence  181 

a  political  point  of  view,  however,  their  employment  was  a 
terrible  blunder.  Thousands  of  colonists  who  had  hesitated 
about  consenting  to  independence  were  now  convinced  of 
the  necessity  of  that  measure ;  tens  of  thousands  were  con 
verted  to  the  necessity  of  the  policy  which  culminated  in 
the  French  alliance :  the  king  had  called  the  Germans  to 
his  aid,  why  should  not  the  colonists  accept  the  help  prof 
fered  by  their  ancient  enemies,  the  French?  In  short, 
by  June,  1776,  the  radical  party  in  the  colonies  was  pre 
pared  to  advocate  separation  from  the  home  land. 

148.    The  Declaration  of   Independence.  —  The  Virginia  Lee's 
convention  took  the  lead  in  this  movement  and  (May,  1776)   resolutions, 
instructed  its  delegates  in  Congress  to  propose  a  declaration  r 
of  independence.     In  compliance  with  these  instructions, 
on  June  7,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  the  chairman  of  the  Vir 
ginia  delegation,  moved  three  resolutions,  of  which  the  first 
is  here  given  in  full:  "That  these  United  Colonies  are, 
and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states,  that 
they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown, 
and  that  all  political   connection   between  them  and  the 
state  of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved." 
The  other  resolutions  provided  for  the  formation  of  a  con 
federation  between  the  new  states  and  for  the  establishment 
of  alliances  with  foreign  powers. 

The  first  resolution  was  briefly  debated  at  the  time;  but  The 
it  was  plain  that  many  members  were  not  then  willing  to 
vote  in  favor  of  it,  either  because  they  had  not  made  up   pendence. 
their  own  minds  on  the  subject,  or  because  they  did  not   Higginson's 
know  how  their  constituents  viewed  the  matter;  its  further  ^f^ 
consideration  was  therefore  postponed  until  July  i.     Mean-   ch.  xi; 
time  a  committee,  composed  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  Benja-   Fiske's 
min  Franklin,  John  Adams,  Roger  Sherman,   and  Robert   j  ^1-197^' 
R.   Livingston,  was  appointed   to  draft  a  declaration  for   Schouler's 
consideration  in  case  the  resolution  should  be   adopted.    Je/erson'> 
Jefferson's    Summary    View  and  Virginia  Declaration  of   ingham's 
Independence  clearly  marked  him  out  as  the  person   most   Republic, 
fitted  to  formulate  the   ideas  which  were   then  uppermost   532-558- 


1 82 


1776]  The  Declaration  of  Independence  183 

in  the  minds  of  the  radicals.  Without  reference  "  to  book  Portions 
or  pamphlet,"  he  wrote  out  the  rough  draft  of  the  Declara-  j  ,,^0rized 
tion.  "  I  did  not  consider  it  as  any  part  of  my  charge  to  Guide, 
invent  new  ideas  altogether,  and  to  offer  no  sentiment  which  §  47  h- 
had  never  been  expressed  before."  In  point  of  fact,  there 
are  no  ideas  in  the  Declaration  which  had  not  long  been 
in  print.  The  first  part  of  it  is  an  exposition  of  the  politi 
cal  theories  which  underlie  the  American  system  of  govern 
ment;  these  were  gathered  by  the  men  of  the  Revolution, 
from  Otis  to  Jefferson,  mainly  from  John  Locke's  immortal 
Essay  on  Government.  Jefferson  was  so  familiar  with 
Locke's  essay,  that  in  some  cases  he  repeated  the  actual 
words  of  the  great  philosopher,  as,  for  example,  in  the  sen 
tence,  "  But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses."  The  idea  of  the 
natural  equality  of  man  was  taken  directly  from  Locke  and 
has  no  relation  to  the  French  school  of  philosophy.  The 
student  should  be  especially  careful  to  guard  against  one 
of  the  common  errors  in  American  history,  that  the  Declara 
tion  declares  men  to  be  free  and  equal,  as  there  is  no  such 
statement  in  the  document;  the  words  are:  "All  men  are 
created  equal."  The  rough  draft,  as  it  came  from  Jeffer 
son's  pen,  contained  a  strong  statement  against  the  slave 
trade.  The  phraseology  was  carefully  revised  by  Franklin 
and  Adams  and  the  other  members  of  the  committee,  and 
reported  to  Congress  on  June  28.  On  July  i,  Lee's  first  Debate  on 
resolution  was  taken  from  the  table  and  debated  at  length.  Lee's  first 
In  the  discussion  which  followed,  it  was  defended  by  John 
Adams,  while  the  arguments  on  the  other  side  were  ably 
stated  by  John  Dickinson,  who,  sturdy  patriot  that  he  was, 
could  not  bring  himself  to  acquiesce  in  independence. 
On  July  2  the  resolution  was  adopted,  all  the  states  voting 
in  the  affirmative  save  New  York,  and  within  a  couple  of 
weeks  her  delegates  were  instructed  to  assent  to  it.  The 
Declaration,  as  reported  by  the  committee,  was  then  taken 
up,  carefully  considered,  and  greatly  improved  in  many 
respects;  but  the  clause  denouncing  the  slave  trade  was 
struck  out.  Notwithstanding  all  these  alterations,  the  Decla- 


1 84 


Independence 


[§ 


Adoption 
of  the 

Declaration, 
July  4,  1776. 


Signing 
of  the 

Declaration, 
August  2, 
1776. 

*Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  268. 


*Massa- 

chusetts 

Historical 

Society 

Proceedings, 

1884,  p.  273. 


Struggle  for 
the  Hudson. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  275-291 ; 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
I,  200-228. 


ration  as  adopted  on  July  4  was  substantially,  with  the 
exception  above  noted,  as  it  was  written  by  Jefferson.  It 
was  then  referred  back  to  the  committee,  that  the  language 
of  the  amendments  and  of  the  original  might  be  made 
harmonious.  A  few  copies  were  printed  and  published  on 
July  5,  authenticated  with  the  signatures  of  the  president 
and  secretary  of  Congress.  Subsequently  (August  2,  1776), 
the  Declaration,  engrossed  on  parchment,  was  signed  by 
the  members  of  Congress  present  at  the  time  of  the 
signing,  and  two  signatures  were  added  later.  The  story 
of  the  document  has  been  related  at  length  because 
there  is  no  more  curious  misconception  in  American 
history  than  the  one  which  attributes  the  signing  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  July  4  :  the  way  in 
which  the  error  arose  can  be  discovered  by  reading  Judge 
Chamberlain's  scholarly  essay  upon  the  subject.  The 
greater  part  of  the  Declaration  is  taken  up  with  the  enumer 
ation  of  a  "long  train  of  abuses,"  which  justified  the  colo 
nists  in  renouncing  allegiance  to  the  British  crown ;  a 
careful  study  of  that  portion  of  the  document  would  in 
itself  give  an  insight  into  the  history  of  America  during 
the  first  three  quarters  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

149.  Campaign  of  1776.  —  The  scene  of  conflict  was  now 
transferred  to  New  York.  Sir  William  Howe,  the  new 
British  commander,  was  able  to  bring  into  the  field  about 
twice  as  many  men  as  Washington  could  muster  for  the 
defense  of  that  important  seaport.  The  Americans  were 
gradually  forced  backward  until  they  were  divided  into  two 
bodies, —  one  in  the  Hudson  valley,  north  of  New  York, 
barring  the  further  progress  of  the  British  up  the  river,  the 
other  on  the  western  side  of  the  Delaware,  guarding  the 
crossings  of  that  important  stream.  The  British  army  oc 
cupied  the  intervening  region.  This  was  the  darkest  hour 
of  the  Revolution :  the  American  army  was  rapidly  dwin 
dling  away;  poverty  was  staring  Congress  in  the  face,  and 
the  forces  of  the  king,  abundantly  supplied  with  all  that 
was  necessary  for  their  comfort,  were  flushed  with  victory. 


1777]  Campaign  of  7777  185 

In  these  circumstances,  Washington  conceived  and  exe-   Trenton, 
cuted  a  movement  which  in  its  conception  and  in  its  exe-   ^"^s 
cution  showed  the  highest  military  skill.     At  Trenton,  on   vi,  370-379; 
the  eastern  bank  of  the  Delaware,  was  a  British  outpost  of   Fiske's 
about  one  thousand  men,  mostly  Hessians.     Crossing  the 
Delaware  on  Christmas  night  (1776),  Washington  surprised 
and  captured  nearly  the  whole  detachment.      Cornwallis, 
with  a  strong  force,  was  immediately  sent  against  him; 
but  Washington  gained  his  rear,  and,  after  a  sharp  engage 
ment  at  Princeton,  went  into  camp  on  the  hills  of  New 
Jersey.       His   presence    there    compelled    the    British   to 
abandon  nearly  all    their   outposts    in  that   state,   and   to 
concentrate    their   forces   within   reach    of    support   from 
New  York. 

150.    Campaign  of  1777.  —  The  British  plan  of  campaign   pian  of 
for  1777  included  two  separate  movements, —  the  capture   campaign, 
of  Philadelphia  and  the  isolation  of  New  England  by  the   I777' 
occupation  of  the  line  of  the  Hudson  River  and  Lake 
Champlain.     The  first  part  of  this  plan,  which  was  entirely 
unjustifiable  from  a  military  point  of  view,  was  successfully 
accomplished  :  Howe,  with  the  greater  part  of  the  main   Capture  of 
British  army,   sailed  from  New  York  to  the  Chesapeake,    Philadelphia, 
marched  overland  to  the  Delaware,  and,  after  an  action  at   ^n'sor's 
Brandywine  Creek,  compelled  Washington  to  retire  up  the   America, 
Schuylkill.     The  British  then  occupied  Philadelphia  and   VI- 380-393; 
captured  the   forts  below  the  city.     Washington,  on  his   Revolution 
part,  attacked  a  portion  of  the  British  army  at  Germantown,    I,  299-308, 
near  Philadelphia,  but  was  compelled  to  retire.     The  with-   3I2~324- 
drawal  of  so  many  soldiers  from  New  York  left  Clinton, 
who  commanded  there,  too  weak  to  afford  effective  assist 
ance  in  the  operations  intended  to  separate  New  England 
from  the  rest  of  the  continent. 

The  command  of  the  army  which  was  designed  to  accom 
plish  this  task  was  intrusted  to  Burgoyne.  The  attempt 
was  probably  foredoomed  to  failure :  the  weakness  of 
the  British  force  at  New  York  enabled  the  Americans  to 
concentrate  their  strength  against  Burgoyne,  and  Sir  Guy 


i86 


Independence 


[§150 


Burgoyne's 

campaign. 

Winsor's 

America, 

VI,  29 1-3 14; 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I,  260-298, 

308-311, 

324-337. 


\ 


Carleton,  the  British  governor  in  Canada,  nettled  at  not 
having  the  command  of  this  expedition,  did  not  give  Bur- 
goyne  the  effective  assistance  he  might  have  afforded.  At 
first,  however,  Burgoyne  enjoyed  a  gleam  of  success:  he 
met  with  slight  opposition  from  the  Americans  on  Lake 
Champlain,  as  they  abandoned  Ticonderoga  without  strik 
ing  a  blow.  When  he  began  his  march  across  the  portage 
between  Lakes  Champlain  and  George  and  the  Hudson 

River,  his  misfortunes 
began :  General  Schuy- 
ler  had  done  everything 
in  his  power  to  delay 
the  British  advance  by 
felling  trees  across  the 
paths  and  filling  up 
the  creeks;  it  took 
Burgoyne  fifty  days 
to  march  seventy-five 
miles;  the  delay  was  of 
the  utmost  importance 
to  the  Americans,  as  it 
gave  the  New  England 
militiamen  time  to  leave 
their  homes  and  gather 
on  the  line  of  the  British  advance.  Schuyler  was  then 
dismissed  for  political  reasons,  and  the  command  given 
to  Horatio  Gates.  Disasters  now  crowded  fast  on 
Burgoyne :  Stark  with  men  from  western  Massachusetts 
and  New  Hampshire  overwhelmed  a  detachment  sent 
to  seize  supplies  at  Bennington;  and  St.  Leger,  march 
ing  to  Burgoyne' s  aid  from  Canada  by  the  line  of 
the  Mohawk,  was  obliged  to  turn  back.  On  September 
19  the  British  army,  advancing  southward  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Hudson,  encountered  a  strong  force  of 
Americans  under  Arnold  and  Morgan  at  a  clearing  in 
the  forest  known  as  Freeman's  Farm.  After  a  fierce  en 
counter,  Arnold  retired  to  the  main  body  of  the  American 


General  Stark 


rr      *'       o, 
A'  T  Sf      "     ici>i:        ': 


££$ 


Wf'^vdlift^w 


1 88 


Independence 


[§  15' 


The 

Saratoga 

Convention, 

1777. 

*Winsor's 

America, 

¥1,317-323; 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I.  339-344- 


army  on  Bemis  Heights,  and  Burgoyne  threw  up  entrench 
ments  where  he  was.  On  October  7  the  Americans  attacked 
him,  one  party  under  Arnold  penetrating  to  the  center  of 
the  British  position.  Unable  to  advance,  and  suffering 
for  provisions,  the  British  endeavored  to  make  their  way 
back  to  Canada.  When  they  again  reached  the  crossing- 
place  of  the  Hudson,  a  strong  force  of  Americans  was 
found  posted  on  the  eastern  bank.  Further  retreat  was 
impossible;  no  aid  could  reach  them  from  New  York,  and 
the  British  laid  down  their  arms  (October  17,  1777). 

The  terms  of  their  surrender  were  embodied  in  an  agree 
ment  or  convention,  known  as  the  Saratoga  Convention. 
According  to  this,  the  British  troops  were  to  march  to 
Boston  and  there  embark  on  transports,  to  be  furnished  by 
the  British  government,  on  condition  that  they  should  not 
again  serve  in  North  America  until  exchanged.  This 
agreement  was  most  disadvantageous  for  the  Americans, 
since  the  soldiers  might  be,  and  probably  would  be,  used 
in  Europe  against  allies,  as  the  French,  who  might  come 
to  the  colonists'  aid,  or  they  could  be  stationed  in  garri 
sons  in  the  British  Isles,'  and  the  soldiers  already  in  those 
garrisons  transferred  to  America.  This  convention  should 
never  have  been  made,  but  once  having  been  concluded, 
should  have  been  carried  out.  Congress,  however,  seized 
the  first  opportunity  to  avoid  giving  up  the  captured  sol 
diers,  and  the  British  on  their  side  did  not  keep  to  the 
spirit  of  the  agreement:  public  property,  which  rightfully 
belonged  to  the  captors,  was  not  given  up,  and  Burgoyne 
uttered  some  rash  words  to  the  effect  that  the  convention 
had  been  broken  by  the  Americans.  The  Americans 
understood  that  the  British  government  would  not  regard 
the  convention  as  binding.  After  a  winter  passed  in  the 
vicinity  of  Boston,  the  "convention  troops"  were  marched 
to  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  and  remained 
there  during  the  war. 

151.  The  Conway  Cabal,  1777,  1778.  —  One  of  the  earli 
est  results  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne' s  army  was  an  attempt 


'7771 


The  Comvay  Cabal 


189 


to  displace  Washington,  with  a  view  to  the  appointment 
of  Gates  in  his  stead.  At  the  present  time,  few  Ameri 
cans  doubt  the  pre-eminent  qualities  of  Washington;  to 
foreigners  as  well,  he  stands  foremost  as  the  embodiment 
of  patriotism,  common  sense,  and  honesty;  and  his  cam 
paigns  attest  his  military  capacity.  To  many  men  of  the 
Revolutionary  epoch,  he  did  not  appear  in  so  favorable 
a  light.  Disaffected  officers  and  suspicious  members  of 
Congress  united  to  disparage  his  actions.  They  naturally 

gathered  to  Gates 
as  their  chosen 
leader,  and  he  was 
weak  enough  to 
listen  to  their  ad 
vances.  The  mat 
ter  soon  came  to 
the  knowledge  of 
Washington,  and 
that  was  the  end 
of  it.  This  dark 
intrigue,  known 
as  the  Conway 
Cabal  from  one 

of  the  leading  actors  in  it,  is  well  worth  studying  by  all 
those  who  desire  to  see  under  the  surface  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  period,  to  discover  the  sordid  nature  of  many  acts 
of  so-called  patriotism,  and  to  view  many  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  heroes  as  they  really  were. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  winter  following  the  victory  on  the 
upper  Hudson  was  the  most  critical  period  of  the  Revo 
lution,  excepting  the  last  three  months  of  the  preceding 
year  (1776).  The  sufferings  of  the  army  at  Valley  Forge 
are  described  in  every  history  of  that  time;  but  it  is  only 
from  Washington's  own  words  that  an  adequate  idea  of 
them  can  be  gathered:  "To  see  men  without  clothes  to 
cover  their  nakedness,  without  blankets  to  lie  on,  without 
shoes  (for  the  want  of  which  their  marches  might  be  traced 


Conspiracy 
to  displace 
Washington. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 

II.  32-43- 

Sparks's 

Washington's 

Writings, 
V,  app.  vi ; 
Lodge's 

Washington, 

I,  210-220. 


Steuben 


The  winter 
at  Valley 
Forge, 
1777-78. 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
II,  25-32, 
51-56. 


Independence  [§152 

by  the  blood  from  their  feet)  ...  is  a  proof  of  patience 
and  obedience  which,  in  my  opinion,  can  scarce  be  paral 
leled."  And  again:  "For  some  days  there  has  been  little 
less  than  a  famine  in  camp.  A  part  of  the  army  has  been 
a  week  without  any  kind  of  flesh.  .  .  .  Naked  and  starving 
as  they  are,  we  cannot  enough  admire  the  incomparable 
patience  and  fidelity  of  the  soldiery."  At  one  time,  no 
fewer  than  two  thousand  eight  hundred  men  were  unfit  for 
duty  for  want  of  shoes  or  clothing;  the  terrible  sufferings 
of  those  months  knit  the  soldiers  together  into  one  compact 
army.  During  that  winter,  also,  Baron  Steuben,  a  Prussian 
veteran,  drilled  them  so  admirably  that  when  they  again 
took  the  field,  the  troops  of  the  Continental  Line,  as  the 
more  permanent  organizations  were  called,  were  as  good  as 
any  to  be  found  in  the  world. 

The  "Lost  152.  The  French  Alliance,  1778. — Commissioners  from 
Million."  {kg  United  States  had  been  at  Paris  since  1776;  they  were 
America,  Silas  Deane,  Arthur  Lee,  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  to  men- 
VII,  26-34.  tion  them  in  the  order  of  their  arrival.  Deane  found  the 
French  government  willing  to  assist  the  Americans  with 
arms  and  supplies,  but  it  insisted  that  the  transfer  should 
be  carried  on  through  a  fictitious  Spanish  firm,  Hortalez 
et  cie,  whose  sole  partner  turned  out  to  be  Caron  de  Beau- 
marchais,  the  writer  of  plays.  To  him  the  French  govern 
ment  intrusted  a  large  sum  of  money,  which  was  to  be  used 
to  evade  the  vigilance  of  the  British  ambassador,  and  to 
overcome  the  many  obstacles  which  the  authorities  were 
obliged  to  place  in  the  way  of  the  traffic  to  aid  in  the  deceit. 
With  this  exception,  the  business  was  carried  on  as  an 
ordinary  mercantile  transaction,  and  Beaumarchais  expected 
to  be  paid  by  Congress  for  the  military  materials  he  fur 
nished  to  them.  Arthur  Lee,  when  he  reached  Paris,  be 
came  most  unreasonably  jealous  of  Deane.  He  found  out 
about  the  money  advanced  to  Beaumarchais,  and  informed 
his  friends  in  Congress  that  the  munitions  and  accoutre 
ments  were  the  gift  of  the  French  government.  Congress 
therefore  refused  to  pay  for  them,  drove  Deane  into  bank- 


1778]         Lord  North 's  Conciliatory  Proposals          191 

ruptcy,  and  greatly  injured  Beaumarchais;  the  whole  affair 
of  "  the  lost  million  "  was  one  of  the  most  singular  and  least 
creditable  episodes  of  the  Revolution. 

Burgoyne's  surrender   convinced  the    French   that   the   Treaties  with 
Americans  were  likely  to  maintain  their  position.     They    France.  I778- 

,  .  , .  Winsor's 

were    now   willing   to    intervene  openly    in   the    dispute.    America, 
Under  these  circumstances,  negotiations  were  easily  brought   VII,  43-49; 
to  a  conclusion,   and  treaties  of  commerce   and  alliance   ^,lske,sJ. 

Revolution, 

between  the  United  States  and  France  were  signed  early  in  \\t  9. 
1778.  By  the  first  of  these  treaties  France  acknowledged 
the  independence  of  the  United  States  and  entered  into 
commercial  arrangements  with  the  new  nation.  The  treaty 
of  alliance  stipulated  that  in  case  war  should  break  out  be 
tween  France  and  Great  Britain  in  consequence  of  the 
friendly  attitude  of  France,  that  country  and  the  United 
States  should  make  common  cause  against  Great  Britain, 
and  that  neither  party  should  make  a  truce  or  peace  without 
first  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  other.  The  two  govern 
ments  mutually  guaranteed  their  possessions  in  America 
forever  against  all  other  powers  and  made  arrangements 
for  the  division  of  territory  which  might  be  conquered 
from  Great  Britain  outside  of  the  limits  of  the  United 
States. 

153.   Lord  North's  Conciliatory  Proposals,   1778.  —  The   Chatham's 
British  government  at  once  declared  war  against  France,    a^  ( 
and  the  treaty  of  alliance  came  into  operation.     Chatham   i77s. 
proposed  to  withdraw  the  British  armies  from  the  United  Winsor's 
States,   win   back   the  good  will  of    the  Americans,   and   viT^T-'U  • 
together  wage  war  against  France  and  Spain,  in  case  the   Fisk'e's 
latter  power  should  join  in  the  contest.     The  king,  how 
ever,  would  not  intrust  the  government  to   Chatham,  but 
suggested   that  he  might  take  office   under  Lord   North. 
That  compliant  minister,  on  his  part,  astonished  his  sup 
porters  by  bringing  in  a  new  Declaratory  Act,  under  which 
Parliament  abandoned  the  right  to  "  impose  any  duty,  tax, 
or  assessment  whatsoever  .  .  .  only  such  duties  as  it  may 
be  expedient  to  impose  for  the  regulation  of  commerce, 


192 


Independence 


[§ 


Battle  of 
Monmouth, 
1778 ; 
treason  of 
Charles  Lee. 
Winsor's 
America, 

vi,  397-400; 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

11,58-72. 


the  net  produce  of  such  duties  to  be  always  paid  and  applied 
to  and  for  the  use  of  the  colony  in  which  the  same  shall 
be  levied."  Commissioners  were  appointed  to  negotiate 
with  the  Continental  Congress  on  these  terms.  The  day 
for  halfway  measures  was  past,  and  nothing  came  of  the 
attempt.  The  war  continued,  but  from  this  time  on  the 
British  assumed  the 
defensive  in  the 
Northern  states. 

154.  Treason  of 
Charles  Lee,  1778.  — 
The  first  military 
result  to  flow  from 
the  French  alliance 
was  the  withdrawal 
of  the  British  army 
from  Philadelphia 
across  the  Jerseys  to 
New  York.  Wash 
ington  determined 
to  strike  the  British 
while  on  the  march, 
should  a  favorable 
opportunity  occur. 

The  Command  Of  the  General  Wayne 

attacking    force     he 

intended  to  confide  to  Lafayette,  who,  young  as  he  was, 
had  shown  marked  military  ability.  Unfortunately,  Charles 
Lee,  a  renegade  Englishman,  who  had  been  captured  by  the 
British  in  1776,  returned  from  captivity  in  time  to  claim  the 
command  of  the  advance  by  right  of  seniority.  The  Ameri 
cans  overtook  the  British  army  near  Monmouth;  Lee  lost 
control  of  his  men  and  withdrew  them  in  disorder.  At  that 
moment  Washington  reached  the  front,  saved  the  army,  and 
assumed  so  threatening  an  attitude  that  Howe's  successor, 
Sir  Henry  Clinton,  without  waiting  for  daylight,  resumed 
his  march  "by  the  light  of  the  moon,"  —  to  use  his  own 


Arnold's   Treason 


193 


phrase.  Lee  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  dismissed 
from  the  army;  there  is  now  little  question  that  he  had 
entered  into  treasonable  communications  with  the  British 
authorities. 

Monmouth  was  the  last  important  engagement  in  the 
North;  thenceforward  the  British  contented  themselves  with 
plundering  expeditions,  whose  only  result  was  to  keep  alive 
a  keen  sense  of  injury  on  the  part  of  the  Americans.  The 
latter,  on  their  side,  performed  one  brilliant  exploit, —  the 
capture  of  a  British  stronghold,  Stony  Point,  on  the  Hudson. 
The  movement  was  carefully  planned  by  Washington  and 
splendidly  executed  by  the  Light  Infantry  of  the  Line  under 
Anthony  Wayne,  one  of  the  most  dashing  commanders  of 
the  war. 

155.  Arnold's  Treason,  1779-80.  —  Benedict  Arnold,  the 
hero  of  Quebec  and  Saratoga,  was  careless  of  money  and 
given  to  lavish  expenditure.  Although  the  ablest  leader 
of  a  division  on  the  American  side,  his  habits  arous-ed  the 
distrust  of  Congress,  and  other  men  of  less  ability  and  less 
experience  were  promoted  over  his  head.  Washington 
exerted  all  his  influence  in  Arnold's  favor,  and  as  soon  as 
a  wound  received  at  Saratoga  permitted,  he  was  given  the 
command  at  Philadelphia.  There  he  became  acquainted 
with  many  persons  who  were  hostile  to  the  American 
cause,  and  misused  his  official  position  for  purposes  of 
private  gain.  He  was  tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced 
to  be  reprimanded  by  Washington.  In  performing  this 
unpleasant  duty,  the  commander  in  chief  said:  "Our  pro 
fession  is  the  chastest  of  all;  even  the  shadow  of  a  fault 
tarnishes  the  lustre  of  our  finest  achievements.  ...  I 
reprimand  you  for  having  forgotten  that  in  proportion  as 
you  have  rendered  yourself  formidable  to  our  enemies,  you 
should  have  been  guarded  and  temperate  in  your  deport 
ment  towards  your  fellow-citizens.  Exhibit  anew  those 
noble  qualities  which  have  placed  you  on  the  list  of  our 
most  valued  commanders.  I  will  myself  furnish  you  .  .  . 
with  opportunities  of  regaining  the  esteem  of  your  coun- 


Wayne's 
assault  on 
Stony  Point. 


Benedict 
Arnold. 
*Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  447-468 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
II,  ch.  xiv. 


194 


Independence 


[§i55 


Andre 

captured. 

1780. 


His  trial. 
Chandler's 
Criminal 
Trials,  II, 
157-265 ; 
Winsor's 
America,  VI, 
467,  468. 


try."  To  enable  him  to  do  this,  Washington  appointed 
Arnold  commander  of  West  Point,  the  most  important  sta 
tion  of  the  Americans  on  the  Hudson. 

Arnold  already  had  been  in  correspondence  with  the 
British  authorities,  and  probably  he  asked  for  this  com 
mand  that  he  might  have  something  of  value  to  betray  to 
his  new  employers.  At  all  events,  the  negotiations  went  on 
apace  until  the  cap 
ture  of  John  Andre, 
the  British  agent  in 
the  affair,  disclosed 
all.  Arnold  escaped 
to  New  York  and  re 
ceived  his  promised 
reward  of  office  and 
money,  although  he 
had  not  performed 
his  part  of  the  nefa 
rious  bargain.  After 
the  close  of  the  war, 
he  lived  in  England, 
one  of  the  most  de 
spised  men  in  the 
world. 

Far  more  interesting  is  the  discussion  which  has  arisen 
over  the  execution  of  John  Andre".  To  understand  his 
career,  the  student  should  compare  his  motives  and  his; 
actions  with  those  of  Nathan  Hale,  a  noble  American, 
whom  the  British  hanged  as  a  spy,  or  with  those  of  two 
young  foreigners,  Alexander  Hamilton  and  the  Marquis  de 
Lafayette.  Andre  was  an  agreeable  young  man  who  know 
ingly  placed  himself  in  the  position  of  a  spy,  and  suffered 
the  penalty  of  death  without  flinching,  as  hundreds  of  men 
have  suffered  before  and  since.  There  was  nothing  remark 
able  in  his  career;  it  was  only  by  a  bold  stretch  of  the 
imagination  that  one  could  have  held  him  worthy  a  place 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  among  the  heroes  of  the  English 


Lafayette 


1776] 


T/ie  Southern  Campaigns 


195 


race 


and  nothing  save  the  sickliest  sentimentalism  could 


have  induced  an  American  to  erect  a  monument  to  his 
memory  on  American  soil.  After  his  capture,  Andrews 
status  was  examined  by  a  very  competent  Court  of  Inquiry, 
presided  over  by  Nathanael  Greene ;  among  its  members 
were  Steuben,  a  Prussian  veteran,  and  Lafayette,  a  general 
officer  in  the  French  army.  It  is  idle  to  contend  that  their 


vSfKS-- 


Birthplace  of  Nathan  Hale 

finding  was  not  sound.  Andre"  passed  the  American  lines 
in  disguise,  under  an  assumed  name,  with  papers  betraying 
military  secrets  concealed  in  his  boots.  He  had  a  pass  from 
Arnold,  giving  safe  conduct  to  John  Anderson ;  the  docu 
ment  was  conceived  in  fraud,  was  used  for  a  fraudulent 
purpose,  and  could  not  for  a  moment  have  protected 
Andre  against  Arnold's  commanding  officer. 

156.  The  Southern  Campaigns,  1776-81. — The  British  The  war  in 
had  early  directed  their  attention  to  the  conquest  of  the  ^^^' 
South.  In  the  winter  of  1776,  while  the  siege  of  Boston  winsor's 


i;8o] 


The  Southern  Campaigns 


in  the   North, 
opinion   events 


was  still  in  progress,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  and  Admiral  Parker 
had  led  an  expedition  to  the  conquest  of  Charleston.  Their 
ignominious  failure  and  the  conflict  in  the  North  had 
diverted  the  British  from  any  further  attempts  in  that  direc 
tion,  until  toward  the  close  of  1778,  by  which  time  they 
seem  to  have  become 
convinced  that  the  South 
would  offer  less  resist 
ance  to  invasion  than 
had  been  encountered 

In  this 

showed 

that  the  British  were 
right.  The  Southerners 
were  able  to  make  slight 
opposition  to  the  well- 
equipped  forces  which 
captured  Savannah  in 
1778  and  invaded  South 
Carolina  in  1779.  In 
deed,  so  hopeless  did 
resistance  at  one  time 
appear,  that  Governor 
Rutledge  of  South  Caro 
lina  drew  up  a  letter  in 

which  it  was  proposed  that  the  latter  state  should  remain 
neutral,  leaving  the  contest  to  be  decided  by  the  other 
states.  In  1780  Clinton  again  appeared  before  Charleston. 
On  this  occasion  he  captured  that  town,  and  the  British, 
under  Cornwallis,  soon  overran  the  greater  part  of  South 
Carolina.  At  the  same  time,  other  expeditions  from  New 
York  under  Phillips  and  Arnold  began  the  conquest  of 
Virginia.  Toward  the  end  of  1780,  Nathanael  Greene  as 
sumed  direction  of  the  defense  of  the  South:  by  a  series 
of  remarkable  campaigns,  he  compelled  the  British  to  yield 
up  the  greater  portion  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  and 
to  retire  to  Charleston  and  Savannah.  These  results  were 


General  Greene 


America, 
VI,  168-172, 
and  ch.  vi ; 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
II,  ch.  xiii, 
and  ch.  xv 
to  p.  268. 


198 


Independence 


Cornwallis 
in  Virginia, 
1781. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  496-500; 
Fiske's 
Revolution, 
II,  268-272. 


accomplished  by  Greene  with  a  handful  of  trained  soldiers 
of  the  Continental  Line  and  large  bodies  of  militia.  The 
leading  events  of  these  campaigns  in  the  southernmost 
colonies  were  Clinton's  attack  on  Charleston  (1776),  the 
capture  of  Savannah  (1779),  the  capture  of  Charleston 
(1780),  Gates's  defeat  at  Camden  (1780),  the  battle  of 
King's  Mountain  (1780),  Morgan's  remarkable  defeat  of 
Tarleton  at  the  Cowpens  (1781),  the  battle  of  Guilford 
Court  House  (1781),  Hobkirk's  Hill  (1781),  the  siege  of 
Ninety-six  (1781),  and  the  battle  of  Eutaw  Springs  (1781). 

157.  The  Yorktown  Campaign,  1781. — After  the  battle 
of  Guilford  Court  House,  Lord  Cornwallis  appears  to  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  permanent  conquest  of  the 
Carolinas  was  impossible  as  long  as  Virginia  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Americans  and  able  to  send  men  and  supplies 
to  the  Southern  armies.  He  may  also  have  regarded  the  con 
tinuous  occupation  of  the  Carolinas  as  impracticable  with 
the  means  at  his  disposal  and  may  have  marched  north 
ward  to  be  within  easier  reach  of  reinforcements  from  New 
York.  At  all  events,  he  marched  northward  to  Virginia 
from  Wilmington,  whither  he  had  repaired  after  his  unavail 
ing  contest  with  Greene.  In  Virginia  he  found  a  small 
British  force  under  Phillips  and  Arnold;  the  former  died 
almost  immediately,  the  latter  he  sent  to  New  York. 
Lafayette  was  also  in  Virginia  with  a  small  but  highly 
efficient  body  of  men,  one  of  the  divisions  of  Light  Infantry 
of  the  Continental  Line.  He  had  originally  been  ordered 
to  that  region  in  the  hope  of  entrapping  Arnold;  now,  he 
and  Cornwallis  marched  up  and  down  Virginia  until  Corn 
wallis  went  into  quarters  at  Portsmouth  for  the  summer; 
later,  he  removed  his  army  to  Yorktown,  in  obedience,  as 
he  supposed,  to  the  orders  of  Clinton. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  co-operation  with  France  had  pro 
duced  slight  effect  upon  the  contest  beyond  diverting  the 
attention  of  the  British  from  America,  and  securing  the 
evacuation  of  Philadelphia.  A  French  force  under  Rocham- 
beau  had  reached  America  in  the  summer  of  1780,  but 


1781]  York  town  Campaign  199 

it  had  been  neutralized  by  the  necessity  of  remaining  at  Siege  and 
Newport,  the  place  of  debarkation,  to  protect  the  vessels 
which  brought  it  over  from  a  British  fleet  that  had  immedi-  I78i. 
ately  blockaded  them.  In  the  summer  of  1781,  De  Grasse,  Winsor's 
the  commander  of  the  French  fleet  in  the  West  Indies,  sent  ^enca* 
word  that  he -would  sail  northward  during  the  hurricane  Fis'ke's 
season  and  reach  the  Chesapeake  in  September;  his  stay  Revolution, 
would  be  limited  to  a  few  weeks,  and  he  hoped  that  ' 273  2 
something  substantial  might  be  accomplished;  he  refused 
to  try  to  cross  the  bar  off  New  York,  and  added  that  he 
would  bring  a  division  of  the  French  army  from  the  West 
Indies.  Washington  had  long  desired  to  capture  New 
York,  but  £)e  Grasse' s  refusal  to  attempt  the  entrance  of 
the  harbor  forbade  that;  on  the  other  hand,  Cornwallis  had 
placed  himself  in  such  a  situation  that  his  capture  would 
be  nearly  certain  with  the  overwhelming  force  at  Washing 
ton's  disposal,  should  all  go  well.  Everything  worked  for 
the  American  cause:  Rodney,  the  British  admiral  in  the 
West  Indies,  on  bad  terms  with  Clinton  and  interested  in 
the  plunder  of  St.  Eustatius,  instead  of  following  De  Grasse, 
sent  a  division  of  his  fleet;  the  French  army  at  Newport 
joined  Washington  at  New  York,  and  the  march^was  so  well 
managed  that  Clinton  believed  the  threatened  siege  of 
New  York  to  be  actually  begun,  when  in  reality  the  allies 
were  crossing  the  Delaware  on  their  way  southward.  De 
Grasse  reached  the  Chesapeake  at  the  appointed  time, 
fought  an  action  with  the  British  fleet  which  compelled  the 
latter' s  return  to  New  York,  and  again  entered  the  Chesa 
peake,  to  find  the  French  vessels  which  had  escaped  from 
Newport  safely  riding  at  anchor.  Besieged  by  more  than 
twice  his  own  numbers,  and  cut  off  from  succor  from  New 
York,  Cornwallis,  after  a  gallant  defense,  surrendered  on 
October  19,  1781.  This  royal  disaster  closed  military 
operations  on  the  continent. 

158.  Naval  Warfare.  —  An  eminent  writer  has  stated 
that  as  many  Americans  were  engaged  in  fighting  for  their 
country's  independence  on  the  water  as  on  the  land.  The 


200 


Independence 


[§ 


The  war  on 
the  water. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VI,  ch.  vii; 
Fiske's 
/  'evolution, 
II,  ch.  xii; 
M.iclay's 
Navy,  I, 


Difficulty  in 

securing 

soldiers. 

Fiske's 

Revolution, 

I,  242-248; 

Critical 

Period,  101- 

103. 


authority  for  this  statement  is  not  altogether  clear;  but  it 
is  certain  that  the  part  played  by  American  seamen  in  the 
conflict  has  been  too  little  studied  and  appreciated  by  our 
historical  writers.  The  navies  of  the  separate  states  and 
of  the  United  States  performed  many  most  important  ser 
vices  in  the  cause  of  liberty;  but  where  so  much  obscurity 
exists,  it  is  difficult  to  mention  the  names  of  particular 
individuals  without  doing  injustice  to  other  less  well-known 
but  equally  deserving  sea  fighters.  Among  those  whose 
exploits  are  recorded  with  tolerable  certainty  are  Manly, 
of  the  Massachusetts  navy,  Wickes,  who  first  carried  the 
national  flag  across  the  Atlantic,  Paul  Jones,  who  captured 
the  British  ship  Serapis  after  a  most  gallant  figltt,  Commo 
dore  Hopkins,  and  Commodore  Tucker.  More  important 
than  the  achievements  of  these  men  of  the  regular  navies, 
were  those  of  the  privateers,  who  pursued  their  hazardous 
calling  with  great  success,  and  materially  affected  the  rates 
of  insurance  on  British  merchant  vessels. 

159.  Congress  and  the  Army,  1775-82.  —  From  the  out 
set  there  was  always  great  difficulty  in  securing  the  requisite 
number  of  soldiers  and  in  keeping  up  a  disciplined  force : 
the  people  were  usually  ready  to  turn  out  for  a  few  weeks 
at  a  time;  but  enlistments  for  a  term  of  years  were  hard  to 
obtain,  and  the  new  recruits  were  undisciplined  and  not  to 
be  relied  upon  in  action.  One  army  had  been  disbanded 
and  another  formed  while  the  siege  of  Boston  was  in  prog 
ress.  Washington  was  most  inadequately  supplied  with 
soldiers  during  the  campaign  of  1776;  but  in  the  closing 
months  of  that  year  Congress  reluctantly  authorized  the 
formation  of  a  permanent  force, —  the  Continental  Line. 
It  most  unwisely  left  the  recruiting  of  the  soldiers,  and 
even  the  appointment  of  the  regimental  officers,  to  the 
several  states.  The  inevitable  result  was  that  the  quotas 
of  some  states  were  never  filled,  and  many  of  the  officers 
were  most  inefficient, — were  not  "fit  to  be  shoeblacks," 
to  use  Washington's  own  words.  Once  organized  and 
drilled,  the  soldiers  of  the  Line  became  a  splendid  force, 


1782] 


Congress  and  the  Army 


20 1 


regular  army. 


able  to  encounter  successfully  their  own  number  of  the 
veterans  of  Great  Britain  or  of  Germany.  Then  began  an 
arduous  struggle  to  see  that  justice  was  done  to  them. 

The    people    entertained    an   unreasonable    jealousy   of   Dislike  of  a 
a  permanent  military  force,   and   the   feeling  found  full 
representation  in  Congress.     Washington  protested  against 
it  with  all  the  arguments  suggested  to  him  by  the  necessi 
ties  of  the  situation.     "In  other  countries,"  he  wrote  at 
one  time, "  the  prejudice 
against  standing  armies 
exists  only  in    time   of 
peace,  and  this  because 
the  troops  are  a  distinct 
body   from    its  citizens 
...  it  is  our  policy  to 
be    prejudiced    against 
them    in   time   of   war, 
though    they    are    citi 
zens."  The  soldiers  suf- 


ONE  SEXTITUKA  SJPANISH 
MilTd  Dollar  orl/nValuv 
thereof  in  GolJoi-Sitver 
la  Ac  given  in  exchange  » t 


Virginia  currency 


fered  every  hardship,  were  half-starved  for  long  periods  Hardships  of 
of  time,  were  ill  provided  with  clothing,  and  were  the  soldiers, 
always  inadequately  paid,  sometimes  not  paid  at  all 
for  months.  The  officers'  expenses  constantly  exceeded 
their  incomes,  and  their  families  at  home  were  left  in 
great  destitution.  At  one  time  they  threatened  to  resign 
in  a  body,  at  another  the  soldiers  broke,  out  into  open 
mutiny.  Washington  exerted  his  influence  to  the  utmost 
and  secured  from  Congress  a  bounty  for  the  soldiers  in  the 
shape  of  grants  of  land,  and  for  the  officers  half  pay  for 
life  to  those  who  should  serve  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
But  the  first  Congress  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
annulled  these  votes  upon  the  unworthy  pretext  that  nine 
states  had  not  assented  to  the  vote,  as  the  Articles  de 
manded,  but  only  a  majority,  as  had  been  sufficient  under 
the  rules  of  the  Old  Congress.  The  officers  then  offered  to 
compromise  for  full  pay  for  seven  years.  As  the  conclusion 
of  the  war  drew  near,  the  anxieties  of  the  soldiers  increased; 


202 


Independence 


[§160 


Proposition 
to  make 
Washington 
king. 

Stedman  and 
Hutchinson, 


Newburg 
Addresses, 
1783- 

Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
106-112. 


for  they  knew  that  when  once  disbanded  they  would  be  in 
no  position  to  enforce  their  reasonable  demands. 

160.  The  Newburg  Addresses,  1783.  —  In  this  condition 
of  uncertainty,  the  soldiers  turned  to  Washington,  and  some 
of  the  more  unstable  among  them  talked  of  making  him 
king.  This  proposition  was  actually  suggested  to  him;  he 
spurned  it  in  a  manner  which  has  separated  him  from  all 
other  successful  leaders  in  civil  strife  since  the  days  of  the 
Roman  republic.  "No  occurrence,"  he  said,  "in  the 
course  of  the  war  has  given  me  more  painful  sensations 
than  your  information  of  there  being  such  ideas  existing 
in  the  army,  as  you  have  expressed,  and  I  must  view  with 
abhorrence  and  reprehend  with  severity." 

The  officers'  and  soldiers'  pay  was  now  years  in  arrears; 
in  March,  1783,  the  matter  came  to  a  head.  While 
the  army  was  encamped  at  Newburg  on  the  Hudson,  an 
address  was  published  anonymously,  calling  a  meeting  of 
officers  to  consider  the  best  means  to  press  their  claims  on 
the  attention  of  Congress.  It  was  written  in  inflammatory 
language,  advising,  among  other  things,  that  the  army 
should  not  disband  on  the  conclusion  of  peace  unless  their 
grievances  were  in  the  meantime  redressed.  Fortunately, 
Washington  was  at  hand.  With  his  customary  tact,  he 
summoned  a  meeting  himself.  Addressing  the  assembled 
officers  in  the  most  sympathetic  language,  he  procured  the 
abandonment  of  the  proposed  mode  of  action,  and  then  he 
used  his  influence  to  the  utmost  to  secure  justice  for  those 
who  so  fully  trusted  him.  This  he  was  able  to  do  with 
the  greater  effect,  because  he  himself  had  steadfastly  refused 
to  receive  any  remuneration  for  his  services  beyond  the 
payment  of  his  necessary  expenses.  Congress  voted  full 
pay  for  five  years  in  such  obligations  of  the  government  as 
other  creditors  received;  how  much  this  really  amounted 
to  is  not  known.  The  hardships  of  the  soldiers  and  the 
insufficiency  of  the  means  placed  in  Washington's  hands 
for  carrying  on  the  conflict,  were  due  in  great  measure  to 
the  poverty  of  Congress. 


1782]  Finances  of  the  Revolution  203 

161.    Finances  of  the  Revolution.  —  At  the  beginning  of   Financial 
the  conflict,  when  enthusiasm  was  at  its  highest,  the  Con-   affairs- 

.    ,  Winsor's    ' 

tinental  Congress  had  not  asserted  the  right  to  levy  taxes :  Americat 

it  simply  called  upon  the  several  colonies  and  later  states  vil,  69-72; 

to  pay  their  proportions  of   the  general  expenses.     This  y,u?in*?rs 

the  states  as  a  whole  had  never  done.     Congress  necessarily  Morris. 
had  recourse  to  the  plan  of  issuing  paper  money,  to  be  re 
deemed  by  the  states,  —  which  never  did  redeem  it.     Other 

&'^&'&^  3-£ 

( 

a 

IS  BILL  entitles  the  Bearer  to V 
receive  ZTW8  W-&y  ^tnisx  ,M  lj 
2)0  £/>*#«£  or  the  Value  thereof  0 
in  QnCd  or  Silver,  according  to  the  Refo-  (\ 
lutions  of  the  $0<3*¥<&8#£  held  at  $ 
the  loth  if  cW*j«  1775-    (->; 


Continental  currency 

means  of  raising  money  were  lotteries  and  loans,  both  of 
which  brought  in  something,  though  much  less  than  was 
urgently  needed.  Ultimately,  Congress  adopted  the  expedi 
ent  of  paying  for  supplies  in  loan-office  certificates  which 
bore  interest,  and  in  requiring  the  states  to  furnish  specific 
supplies,  since  they  would  not  pay  money.  The  funds 
which  really  made  it  possible  to  continue  the  struggle  after 
1777  were  obtained  from  foreign  governments,  mainly  from 
France,  and  from  individual  capitalists  in  Holland. 

It  is  easy  for  the  historical  writer  of  the  present  day  to   Criticisms  on 
condemn  the  Continental  Congress  for  not  seizing  the  tax-   the  conduct 

,   ,        .        .        ,  .   .         of  Congress. 

ing  power  at  the  beginning  and  for  issuing  large  quantities 
of  practically  irredeemable  paper  money.  It  should  be 
remembered,  however,  that  the  leaders  of  Congress  in  1775 


2O4  Independence  [§  162 

and  1776  were  among  the  most  skillful  statesmen  the  coun 
try  has  ever  had ;  they  were  much  better  able  to  judge  of 
the  temper  of  the  people  than  is  the  student  of  the  present 
day,  and  they  had  to  reckon  with  a  powerful  opposition 
in  nearly  every  state.  Moreover,  the  rapidly  depreciating 
paper  currency  was  really  a  species  of  tax ;  it  was  probably 
the  only  form  of  general  taxation  the  people  would  have 
endured. 

The  Tories.         162.    The   Loyalists. — The    Continental    Congress   and 
*Wmsor's        tne   severai  state   legislatures  were  unable   to   adopt   more 

America,  .  ... 

vn,  185-214.  energetic  measures,  owing,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  fact  that 
large  portions  of  the  people  were  either  opposed  to  the 
contest  with  Great  Britain  or  were  half-hearted  in  its  prose 
cution.  The  people  may  be  considered  as  divided  into 
three  portions  :  the  radicals,  who  supported  the  movement 
enthusiastically ;  and  the  conservatives,  who  opposed  it  as 
much  as  they  could;  between  these  two  extremes  was  the 
great  mass  of  the  population,  who  cared  little  which  way 
the  matter  went  provided  they  were  left  in  peace.  As 
is  always  the  case,  at  times  of  disturbance,  the  radicals, 
being  the  most  aggressive,  possessed  a  power  and  attracted 
attention  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  numerical  impor 
tance.  It  is  of  course  impossible  to  state  the  numbers  of 
these  sections  respectively  or  to  give  an  accurate  idea  of 
the  proportion  each  bore  to  the  whole.  Some  very  com 
petent  students  believe  that  the  radicals  were  in  a  minority: 
it  is  certain  that  in  some  parts  of  the  country  the  conserva 
tive  element  was  at  least  equal  in  point  of  number  to  the 
radical  section  and  was  fully  as  aggressive;  this  was  the 
case  in  South  Carolina,  in  Pennsylvania,  in  New  York, 
and  in  portions  of  Massachusetts.  Many  loyalists  fought 
actively  on  the  king's  side;  they  formed  regiments,  as 
Ferguson's  Riflemen,  who  were  destroyed  at  King's  Moun 
tain,  and  the  Queen's  Rangers,  who  accompanied  Arnold 
to  Virginia.  The  most  celebrated  of  these  warlike  loyal 
ists  was  Benjamin  Thompson,  a  native  of  Massachusetts; 
after  the  war  he  went  to  Europe,  became  one  of  the  most 


1782]  Peace  Negotiations  205 

important  scientific  men  of  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  received  the  title  of  Count  Rumford  from  the 
king  of  Bavaria;  in  his  declining  years,  he  remembered 
his  native  country,  and  founded  several  prizes  and  one  pro 
fessorship  for  the  promotion  of  scientific  objects.  The  The  patriot 

active  loyalists  were  regarded  with  hatred  by  the  Revolu-   leaders  and 

.     ,  the  loyalists. 

tionary  leaders :  Washington  stigmatized  them  as  detest 
able  parricides,"  and  words  were  insufficient  to  exhibit 
Franklin's  detestation  of  these  devoted  adherents  of  the 
British  monarch.  On  the  other  hand,  a  great  deal  of  the 
bitterness  displayed  by  the  loyalists  was  the  direct  result  of 
the  severity  with  which  they  were  treated  by  the  radicals. 
Of  late  years,  there  has  been  a  disposition  to  regard  their 
loyalty  with  more  leniency.  Some  students  even  regret 
the  harsh  measures  which  drove  them  from  the  country,  and 
wish  that  they  might  have  been  treated  as  were  the  South 
erners  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War;  they  point  out  that 
their  exile  deprived  the  country  of  many  men  of  education, 
and  are  inclined  to  think  that  some  of  the  evils  which  beset 
the  nation  in  the  course  of  the  next  few  years  were  owing 
to  the  loss  of  this  conservative  element  in  its  population. 

163.    Peace  Negotiations  of  1782.  — The  disaster  at  York-   Fall  of 
town  not  merely  brought  hostilities  in  America  to  a  sudden   the  North 

Ministry, 

close,  it  also  put  an  abrupt  termination  to  the  king  s  system  I782.  ' 
of  government  in  Great  Britain.  Lord  North,  who  had  Fiske's 
long  been  anxious  to  leave  office  and  had  remained  only  ™tlca, 

'     Period,  1-45  ; 

from  a  misplaced  feeling  of    loyalty  to  his  royal  master,    stedman  and 
now  resigned  and  the  king  was  obliged  to  summon  Rock-    Hutchinson, 
ingham  and  the  other  leaders  of  the  opposition  and  place        '     ' 
the  government  in  their  hands.     The   two   secretaries  of 
state  in  the  new  ministry  were  Charles  James  Fox  and  the 
Earl  of  Shelburne.     They  were  the  real  leaders  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  were  not  on  good   terms.     Fox  hated  and 
distrusted  Shelburne,  and  there  was  some  ground  for  his 
dislike;  the  latter,   indeed,  was  regarded  by  men  of  that 
time  as  a  trickster.     At  all  events,  Shelburne  seems  to  have 
been  sincerely  desirous  of  peace  with  America.     He  opened 


Benjamin  FrankHn 
At  the  age  of  sixty,  after  a  painting  by  Martin 


200 


1782]  Peace  Negotiations  207 

communications  with  Dr.  Franklin,  whom  he  had  known   Propositions 
well  during  the  latter's  residence  in  England  before  the   forPeace. 
war.     This,  coming   to    the    ears   of    Fox,   confirmed   his   winsor's 
suspicions  of  Shelburne's  fidelity  and  he  seized  the  oppor-   America, 
tunity  afforded  by  Rockingham's  death  to  resign  with  his   VII>  96-106- 
friends;  then  Shelburne  became  the  head  of  a  reconstructed 
ministry.     Congress  had  appointed  five  commissioners  to 
negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace.     Their  instructions  required 
them  to  proceed  in  conjunction  with  the  French  govern 
ment.     The  commissioners  appointed  were  Dr.  Franklin, 
then   minister  to   France;  John  Jay,    minister  to  Spain; 
John  Adams,  who  had  official  business  in  Holland;  Henry 
Laurens  and  Thomas  Jefferson.     The  last  did  not  cross  the 
ocean  and  Laurens  was  captured  on  the  voyage   and   was 
a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London  during  the  period  of 
important  negotiations.      The   first    communications    were 
with   Dr.    Franklin,  who  was   soon   joined  by  Jay.     The 
former  had  lived  long  in  France,  had  been  regarded  as  one 
of  the  "  lions "   of   the  day,   and  had  a  firm  faith  in  the 
honesty  and   good  will  of  the   French   government.    Jay's   jay's 
experience  in  Spain  had  led  him  to  believe  that  the  Bourbon   suspicions 
powers  (France  and  Spain)  were  using  the  American  war  to   and^^ 
further  their  own  interests,  especially  those  of  Spain.     Jay  *Winsor's 
thought  that  he  had  sufficient  evidence  to  justify  the  con-   ^"'*rica' 
elusion  that  these  governments  were  opposed  to  the  extension 
of  the  United  States  beyond  the  Alleghanies  and  preferred 
to  have  the  British  retain  the  territory  between  the  Ohio, 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  the  Mississippi,  to  having  it  handed 
over  to  the  new  republic.     He  also  thought  that  France 
was  opposed  to  having  the  Americans  share  in  the  rights  to 
the  fisheries  under  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  that  Spain  was 
similarly  opposed  to  giving  them  a  share  in  the  free  navi 
gation  of  the  Mississippi,  secured  to  England  in  the  treaty 
of  1763.     Historical  students  are  divided  as  to  the  sound 
ness  of  Jay's  conclusions;  the  best  opinion,  however,  in 
clines  to  the  belief  that  he  was  right.     John  Adams,  when 
he   reached   Paris,  agreed   with   Jay;    the   commissioners 


208 


Independence 


[§164 


The 

Preliminary 

Articles, 

1782. 

Winsor's 

America, 

vii,  137-145- 


The 

Definitive 

Treaty,  1783. 

Winsor's 

America, 

¥11,163-165; 

MacDonald's 

Documents, 

No.  3. 

Boundaries. 


broke  their  instructions  and  negotiated  directly  with  Great 
Britain,  without  the  knowledge  of  France.  Seldom  in  the 
history  of  diplomacy  have  negotiations  begun  in  doubtful 
circumstances  been  crowned  with  greater  success;  the  Eng 
lish  historian,  W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  noting  this,  wrote :  "  It  is 
impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  the  skill,  hardihood,  and 
good  fortune  that  marked  the  American  negotiations." 

The  "  Preliminary  Articles  "  which  should  form  a  treaty 
when  a  general  peace  should  be  made  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  w.ere  signed  on  November  30,  1782. 
Dr.  Franklin  communicated  them  to  the  French  govern 
ment  with  so  many  soothing  assurances,  that  France 
acquiesced  in  them.  September  3,  1783,  the  Definitive 
Treaty  was  signed  at  Paris  on  the  same  day  that  treaties 
between  Great  Britain  and  France  and  between  Great  Britain 
and  Spain  were  signed  at  Versailles;  in  this  manner,  the 
terms  of  the  alliance  with  France  were  technically  com 
plied  with,  but  hostilities  had  already  ceased  in  the  pre 
ceding  April  between  the  British  and  the  Americans.  It 
is  necessary  to  examine  in  detail  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  as  on  its  provisions  de 
pended  in  great  measure  the  relations  between  those  powers 
for  many  years. 

164.  The  Treaty  of  Peace,  1783.  —  The  boundaries  of  the 
new  nation  were  to  be  those  of  the  English  colonies  accord 
ing  to  the  treaty  of  1763  and  the  king's  Proclamation  of 
that  year  (p.  117).  Thus  the  Mississippi  to  the  thirty-first 
parallel  was  to  be  the  western  boundary.  The  southern 
boundary  was  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Floridas  ac 
cording  to  the  Proclamation, —  the  thirty-first  parallel, 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Chattahoochee,  then  down  that 
river  to  its  junction  with  the  Flint,  thence  in  a  straight  line 
to  the  source  of  the  St.  Mary's,  and  thence  to  the  sea.  This 
was  the  line  contained  in  both  the  Preliminary  Articles 
and  the  Definitive  Treaty.  A  separate  and  secret  article, 
appended  to  the  former,  provided  that  in  case  Great 
Britain  should  win  back  the  Floridas  from  Spain,  which 


NORTH   AMERICA, 

showing  the  Boundaries  of 
THE  UNITED  STATES,  CANADA    AND 

THE  SPANISH  POSSESSIONS, 
according  to  the  proposals  of  the  Court  of  Fr 


English  ____  ......  Bed 

United  States  __ 
Spanish  __________  Yellow 

TTncolored  Indian  Territory 
under  Spanish  or  American  pro 
tection  according  as  if  lie*  West  or 


, 
East  of  the  Yellow  intersecting  line 

Scale  of  Engirt  MMw 


'No.  III.    THE  NEGOTIATIONS  OF  1782 
•  From  Fitzmaurice's  Life  of  Shelburne 


1783] 


Treaty  of  Peace 


209 


had  overrun  them,  the  southern  boundary  of  the  United 
States  between  the  Mississippi  and  Chattahoochee  rivers 
should  be  the  parallel  of  thirty-two  degrees  and  thirty 
minutes.  This  had  been  the  northern  boundary  of  West 
Florida  in  the  commissions  of  the  governors  of  that  terri 
tory.  It  is  important  to  note  this  because  Great  Britain, 


The  United  States,   1  783 

as  a  part  of  the  general  settlement  of  1783,  ceded  to  Spain 
"  the  Floridas  "  without  any  statement  of  boundary.  Spain 
argued  that  this  gave  her  West  Florida  as  it  had  been  gov 
erned  for  twenty  years;  the  United  States  contended  that 
the  thirty-first  parallel  was  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
United  States  designated  in  the  treaty  of  1783  and  thus 
limited  Florida  on  the  north.  The  matter  was  finally 
arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  United  States  in  1795 
(p.  280),  but  only  after  long  and  harassing  disputes.  The 
treaty  of  1783  also  provided  that  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  which  was  then  supposed  to  rise  north 


2io  Independence  [§  164 

of  the  Great  Lakes,  should  be  free  to  both  parties.  This 
right  had  been  guaranteed  to  Great  Britain  in  1763.  Spain, 
however,  tried  to  evade  the  carrying  out  of  its  obligations, 
and  this  too  led  to  much  irritation  (p.  229). 

The  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States,  as  far  west 
as  the  St.  Lawrence,  was  the  southern  boundary  of  Canada, 
according  to  the  Proclamation  of  1763  (p.  117).  From 
the  point  where  the  forty-fifth  parallel  reached  the  St.  Law 
rence,  it  followed  the  channel  of  that  river,  the  Great  Lakes, 
and  connecting  waters  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods,  and  thence  due  west  to  the  source  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  settlement  of  this  line  gave  rise  to  in 
numerable  disputes,  which  were  not  finally  set  at  rest  until 
1842  (p.  412). 

The  loyalists.  The  British  government  had  been  solicitous  that  the 
United  States  should  make  some  provision  for  the  loyalists. 
This  was  a  matter  on  which  Franklin,  at  all  events,  held 
very  decided  opinions, —  nor  were  the  other  commissioners 
willing  to  accede  to  such  a  proposition.  They  consented, 
however,  to  the  insertion  of  a  meaningless  provision  that 
Congress  would  "recommend  "  the  states  to  pass  relief  acts. 
The  recommendation  was  made  in  due  course  and  was 
entirely  unheeded;  not  only  unheeded,  but  some  states 
actually  increased  the  severity  of  their  measures  against  the 
loyalists.  Parliament,  however,  made  fairly  liberal  provi 
sion  for  their  maintenance. 

Debts.  Another  subject,  and  one  which  gave  rise  to  many  dis 

putes  later  on,  was  what  should  be  done  as  to  debts  owed 
by  individuals  to  British  creditors  at  the  beginning  of  the 
conflict.  It  was  finally  decided  that  these  debts  should  be 
payable  at  the  close  of  the  war.  There  was  no  way  of 
enforcing  these  obligations  until  the  formation  of  the  gov 
ernment  under  the  Constitution  (1789) ;  the  non-observance 
of  the  treaty  in  this  respect  gave  rise  to  much  trouble 
(p.  277). 

The  fisheries.  Still  another  difficult  point  was  the  question  of  the 
fisheries.  Of  course  any  one  had  the  right  to  sail  to  the 


1783]  Problems  of  Peace  211 

banks  of  Newfoundland  and  there  fish  out  of  sight  of  land 
and  far  away  from  the  limit  of  jurisdiction  recognized  by 
international  practice.  To  make  this  fishing  really  valu 
able,  as  it  was  then  carried  on,  it  was  necessary  to  have  the 
right  to  do  certain  things  within  the  limit  of  jurisdiction, 
—  to  secure  bait,  for  instance,  or  to  dry  the  fish  on  the 
unsettled  coasts.  These  rights  had  been  shared  between 
the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  and  France  according  to  the 
provisions  of  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  and  also  of  the  later 
treaty  of  1 763.  The  Americans,  feeling  that  the  new  settle 
ment  was  in  the  nature  of  a  division  of  the  Empire,  thought 
that  the  fisheries  should  be  shared  between  the  American 
and  the  British  fishermen,  as  they  had  been  shared  between 
the  subjects  of  King  George  living  in  America  and  in 
Britain  before  the  war.  This  was  certainly  a  great  conces 
sion  for  Great  Britain  to  make,  but  after  considerable 
controversy  it  was  finally  included  in  the  treaty. 

165.    Problems  of  Peace.  —  The  United  States  were  now 
independent,  but  the  problems  which  confronted  the  Ameri 
can  people  were  no  less  arduous  of  solution  than  the  securing   Wash- 
of  their  independence  had  been.  The  stress  of  war  had  failed   mgton's 
to  unite  them  into  one  nation;  would  the  time  of  peace  be   governors, 
any  more  fortunate?     In  a  circular  letter  to  the  state  gov-    Fiske's 
ernors   (June,   1783)   Washington  referred  to  these  fears  in 
language  which  showed  him  to  be  not  merely  a  military 
leader  but  a  statesman  as  well.     A  few  sentences  from  this   Leaflets,  Gen. 
letter,  which  should  be  read  by  every  student,  will  be  a   Ser' No' I5> 
fitting  close  to  this  chapter.     "It  is  yet  to  be  decided,"  he 
wrote,   "whether  the  revolution   must  ultimately  be  con 
sidered  as  a  blessing  or  a  curse. 

'  .  .  .  This  is  the  moment  to  establish  or  ruin  their 
[the  American  people's]  national  character  for  ever.  .  .  . 
There  should  be  lodged  somewhere  a  supreme  power  to 
regulate  and  govern  the  general  concerns  of  the  Confed 
erated  republic,  without  which  the  Union  cannot  be  of 
long  duration." 


2 1 2  Independence 


SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS   AND   TOPICS 

Bring  to  class  a  topical  analysis  of  the  history  of  England  and  of 
France,  1775-83. 

§§  140-144.  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CONTEST,  1775-76 

a.  Compare  the  strength  of  the  combatants  as  to  (i)  material  and 
moral  resources,  (2)   unanimity  of  opinion,  (3)  naval  and  military  dis 
cipline,  (4)  physical  condition  of  theater  of  war. 

b.  In  view  of  the  nature  of  the  theater  of  war,  what  military  policy 
would  commend  itself  to  the  Americans  ?  to  the  British  ?     Give  exam 
ples  of  the  defective  strategy  of  the  British. 

§§  145-148.   INDEPENDENCE 

a.  What  does  the  election  of  Jefferson  to  the  Second  Continental 
Congress  prove?     Give  your  reasons. 

b.  Why  does  the  formation  of  the  state  constitutions  mark  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  the  world  ? 

c.  Compare  the  first  constitution  of  Virginia  with  the  present  consti 
tution  of  your  state. 

d.  Read  the  first  and  the  last  paragraphs  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence.     Did  those  who  voted  for  that  Declaration  have  in  mind  the 
formation  of  one  nation  or  of  thirteen  nations  ? 

e.  Why  has  the    Declaration  been  called   the    political    Bible    of 
America  ? 

§§  149-152,  155-159.   MILITARY  AFFAIRS 

a.  Describe  the  British  plan  of  campaign  and  American  resistance 
in  1776,  in  1777,  in  1778,  in  1779,  in  1780,  and  in  1781,  noting  in  each 
case  the  strength  of  the  opposing  armies,  physical  condition  of  theater 
of  war,  results  of  campaigns,  and  qualities  shown  by  opposing  com 
manders. 

b.  State  the  importance  of  each  of  the  following  events :  the  Sara 
toga  Convention,  the  Conway  Cabal,  the  execution  of  Andre. 

c.  Sketch  Greene's  Southern  campaigns,  noting  especially  the  part 
played  by  the  Southern  militia. 

d.  Represent  upon  an  Outline  Map  the  important  military  move 
ments  in  the  South  from  November,  1780,  to  November,  1781. 

§§  !52>  T53-  THE  FRENCH  ALLIANCE 

a.   What  matter  in  this  chapter  must  you  enter  in  your  note-book 
under  heading,  "  Important  Treaties  "  ? 


Questions  and  Topics  213 

b.  Compare  the  services  to  the  cause  of  independence  of  Washing 
ton  and  of  Franklin. 

c.  Were  Lord  North's  conciliatory  proposals  a  total  surrender  of 
Great  Britain's  colonial  system  ?     Give  your  reasons. 

§§  160-162.   INTERNAL  AFFAIRS 

a.  Give  historical  grounds  for  the  aversion  of  the  Americans  to  a 
permanent  army. 

b.  Place  as  heading  in  note-book,  "  Financial  History,"  and  enter 
under  it  all  fitting  matter  as  you  proceed. 

c.  Can  you  suggest  any  moral  objection  to  the  position  of  the  Ameri 
can  loyalists  ?     How  do  you  justify  Washington's  and  Franklin's  atti 
tude  toward  the  loyalists  ? 

§§  163-165.   PEACE 

a.  Discuss  the  treatment  of  France  by  the  United  States  at  the  time 
of  the  peace  negotiations. 

l>.  Look  up  Jay's  previous  training  and  character  and  weigh  care 
fully  the  value  of  his  conclusions  as  opposed  to  those  of  Franklin. 

c.  What  claim  upon  the  United  States  had  the  loyalists  ? 

d.  Washington's  Circular  Letter  to  the  Slate  Governors.     What  cir 
cumstances  favorable  to  the  political  happiness  of  the  American  people 
does  Washington  enumerate  ?     What  four  essentials  to  (.he  existence 
of  the  United  States  as  an  independent  power  does  he  state  ?     Quote 
his  words  which  show  his  views  about  centralization  of  power,  the  right 
of  secession,  the  full  discharge  of  the  national  debt,  pensions.     What 
other  later  issues  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  are  touched  in  this 
letter  ? 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

a.  Represent  in  colors  upon  an  Outline  Map  the  boundary  provi 
sions  of  the  treaty  of  1783,  using  your  Map  of  1763  as  a  basis;  put  also 
upon  it  in  dotted  line  the  possible  boundary  indicated  by  the  "secret 
article"  of  1782.     What  different  boundary  disputes  arose  over  the 
provisions  of  this  treaty  ?     When  and  how  settled  ?     Mark  the  final 
boundaries  under  these  agreements  on  this  map. 

b.  Make  any  necessary  changes  on  your  maps  of  Territorial  Posses 
sions  and  on  the  map  of  your  state. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Carefully  define  the  following  words :  state,  nation,  federation, 
confederation. 


2 1 4  Independence 

b.  Compare  the  American  Revolution  with  the  Puritan  Rebellion, 
with  the  Revolution  of  1688-89,  witn  the  Prench  Revolution,  and  with 
the  Civil  War. 

TOPICS  FOR  '  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 
(See  note  under  this  head  on  p.  48.) 

a.  The  battle  of  Trenton  (with  a  plan),  Guide,  298. 

b.  The  battle  of  Bennington  (with  a  plan),  Guide,  299, 

c.  The  Monmouth  campaign  (with  a  plan),  Guide,  299. 

d.  Was  Andre  a  spy  ?     Guide,  300. 

e.  The  battle  of  the  Cowpens  (with  a  plan),  Guide,  302. 
/.  The  Conway  Cabal  (189,  first  group). 

g.    Naval  warfare  of  the  Revolution,  §  158. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE   CONSTITUTION,  1783-1789 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Johnston's  American  Politics,  3-18;  Walker's 
Making  of  the  Nation,  1-73;  *Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic, 
569—610;  Fiske's  Civil  Government,  186—267. 

Special  Accounts.  —  *Whisor's  America,  VII;  *Von  Hoist's  Con 
stitutional  History,  I;  Lodge's  Washington,  II;  Schouler's  United 
States;  *McMaster's  People  of  the  United  States,  I;  Fiske's  Critical 
Period. 

Sources.  —  Biographies  and  writings  of  Washington,  Madison, 
Hamilton,  Jay,  Franklin,  J.  Adams,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Rufus  King, 
Mason,  Henry,  R.  H.  Lee,  Gerry,  for  titles  see  Guide,  §§  25,  32,  33; 
Journals  of  Congress;  Journal  of  the  Convention;  Madison's  Notes; 
Elliot's  Debates  ;  American  History  Leaflets  ;  Old  South  Leaflets. 

Maps.  —  Hinsdale's  Old  Northivest,  Nos.  vi-ix;  Winsor's  America, 
VII,  App.  i. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a,  56 b  (General  Readings),  §§  142,  149-156  (Topics  and  Refer 
ences). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  Landon's  Constitutional  History  ;  *Tuck- 
er's  History  of  the  United  States  ;  Gay's  Madison  ;  Morse's  Franklin  ; 
*G.  T.  Curtis's  History  of  tJie  Constitution,  or  his  Constitutional  His 
tory ;  *Bancroft's  History  of  the  Constitution  or  his  United  States  (last 
revision),  VI  ;  *Story's  Commentaries ;  *Thayer's  Cases  on  Constitu 
tional  Law ;  Hamilton's  Federalist;  R.  H.  Lee's  Letters  of  a  federalist 
Farmer;  Scharf's  Maryland;  Cutler's  Ordinance  of  1787 ;  Dunn's 
Indiana;  Hinsdale's  Old  Northwest ;  Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the 
West,  III;  Sumner's  Finances  of  the  Revolution  ;  Pomeroy's  Constitu 
tional  Law ;  Hinsdale's  American  Government;  *Fiske's  American 
Political  Ideas,  ch.  ii;  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries. 

THE   CONSTITUTION,  1783-1789 

1 66.  Nationalism  and  Particularism.  —  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolution  it  seemed  as  if  public  opinion  were  favor- 


216 


The  Constitution 


[§  167 


Feeling  of 
nationality, 
1774-76. 
Hart's  Con 
temporaries, 
II,  No.  153. 


Tendency 
toward 
particu 
larism. 


Franklin's 

plan. 

American 

History 

Leaflets, 

No.  20. 


able  to  the  formation  of  a  national  government.  On  the 
first  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  Continental  Congress,  Patrick 
Henry  asserted  that  the  colonial  governments  were  destroyed, 
and  asked,  "  Where  are  your  landmarks,  your  boundaries  of 
colonies  ?  "  According  to  him,  "  The  distinctions  between 
Virginians,  Pennsylvanians,  New  Yorkers,  and  New  Eng- 
landers  are  no  more ;  I  am  not  a  Virginian,  but  an  Ameri 
can."  The  question  of  the  mode  of  voting  in  Congress 
was  then  under  discussion,  and  Henry  proposed  that  the 
freemen  of  the  several  colonies  should  be  represented 
according  to  numbers.  As  there  was  then  no  means  of 
ascertaining  the  population  of  the  several  colonies,  this 
proposition  could  not  be  accepted  and  Congress  decided 
that  each  colony  should  have  one  vote,  on  the  ground  that 
Congress  could  not  then  determine  the  importance  of  each 
colony.  For  some  time,  certainly  until  the  end  of  1776, 
the  Continental  Congress  occupied  the  most  commanding 
position  of  any  governmental  body  in  America  :  the  people 
of  the  several  states  asked  its  advice  as  to  the  regulation 
of  their  affairs  and  followed  its  recommendations  (p.  177). 
Before  long,  however,  Congress  lost  much  of  its  authority, 
and  the  state  governments,  once  formed,  rapidly  gained  the 
respect  of  the  people.  This  change  of  sentiment  was 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  state  legislatures  soon  ac 
quired  the  right  to  appoint  the  delegates  of  the  state  in 
Congress  ;  but  it  was  due  more  especially  to  the  fact  that  the 
local  legislatures  were  more  under  the  control  of  the  people 
than  was  Congress.  It  was  in  these  circumstances  that  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  were  drawn  up  and  sent  to  the 
states  for  ratification. 

167.  Formation  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  —  The 
earliest  draft  of  a  plan  for  a  federal_union  was  made  by 
Franklin,  and  was  read  in  Congress  on  July  2i,_jL175-  In 
June,  1776,  Richard  Henry  Lee  of  Virginia  coupled  with 
the  resolution  of  independence  another  for  the  formation 
of  Articles  of  Confederation  (p.  181).  It  is  possible  that 
the  expectation  was  that  the  declaration  and  the  frame  of 


1777] 


TJie  Articles  of  Confederation 


217 


government  would  form  one  instrument,  as  was  later  the 
case  in  Virginia.  A  "grand  committee,"  consisting  of  one 
member  from  each  colony,  was  appointed  to  devise  a  plan 
of  union ;  it  reported  through  its  chairman,  John  Dickinson, 
in  the  middle  of  July,  and  its  report  is  hence  known  as 
Dickinson's  draft.  The  matter  was  discussed  at  intervals 
until  November,  1777,  when  the  Articles  were  adopted 
and  sent  to  the  states.  They  vary  in  form  and  language 
from  Dickinson's 
draft,  but  resemble 
it  very  closely  in  all 
essential  features.  It 
will  be  well,  perhaps, 
to  note  a  few  of  the 
differences  between 
Franklin's  draft  and 
the  report  of  the 
committee.  Franklin 
provided  for  the 
regulation  of  "  gen 
eral  commerce  "  by 
the  Congress ;  this 
was  confided  to  the 
states  in  Dickinson's 
draft,  except  in  so 
far  as  commerce  was 
affected  by  treaties 
entered  into  by  Con 
gress.  In  Franklin's  scheme  representation  in  Congress  was 
to  be  distributed  among  the  states  in  proportion  to  their  popu 
lation,  and  each  delegate  was  to  have  one  vote  ;  in  the  com 
mittee's  report  a  state  might  send  as  many  delegates  as  it 
chose  between  two  and  seven,  but  each  state  should  have 
only  one  vote.  Franklin  provided  for  amendments  by  vote 
of  a  majority  of  the  state  assemblies ;  Dickinson  required 
the  consent  of  all  the  state  legislatures  to  any  change,  and 
thereby  made  change  impossible. 


John  Dickinson 


Articles  of 
Confedera 
tion,  adopted 
1777. 
Fiske's 
Critical  Pe 
riod,  90-101 ; 
*Froth- 
ingham's 
Republic, 
561-572. 
American 
History 
Leaflets, 
No.  20 ; 
Old  South 
Leaflets, 
Gen.  Ser. 
No.  2. 


218 


The  Constitution 


[§168 


The  Articles 
of  Confeder 
ation,  and 
other  plans 
of  federal 
Union. 
American 
History 
Leaflets, 
Nos.  7,  8,  14, 
20. 


The  Articles 
compared 
with  the 
Union  of 
England  and 
Scotland. 


Analysis  of 
the  Articles. 
Portions  to 
be  memo 
rized.   Guide, 
\  471- 


1 68.  The  Articles  of  Confederation.  —  The  best,  in  far1-, 
the  only,  way  to  understand  the  new  arrangement  for  gov 
ernment,  and  to  comprehend  its  place  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States,  is  to  study  with  care  the  document  itself  and 
to  compare  it  with  the  Articles  of  Confederation  of  the 
New  England  colonies  (p.  80)  and  with  the  Albany  Plan 
of  Union  (p.  119)  on  the  one  side,  and  with  the  Constitu 
tion  (p.  237)  on  the  other.  It  is  also  very  helpful,  but 
more  difficult,  to  study  it  in  connection  with  the  govern 
mental  arrangements  of  Great  Britain  after  1603,  and  before 
the  Act  of  Union  of  1707,  and  with  the  actual  constitution 
of  the  kingdom  after  that  time.  During  the  first  of  these 
periods  England  and  Scotland  had  the  same  king  ;  each 
kingdom,  however,  had  its  own  legislative  body  and  its  own 
system  of  laws  ;  the  Act  of  Union  brought  about  a  change  in 
this  latter  regard,  the  two  kingdoms  henceforth  having  one 
legislative  body  and  one  system  of  laws.  In  the  former  time, 
for  instance,  the  colonies,  by  the  navigation  acts,  could  no 
more  trade  with  Scotland  than  they  could  with  France ;  in 
the  latter  time,  Scotland  and  England  were  regarded  as  one 
country  as  far  as  colonial  trade  was  concerned.  The  first 
form  of  union  is  known  as  a  personal  union  ;  the  latter  is 
usually  termed  a  legislative  union.  Before  the  Revolution 
the  colonies  had  denied  that  there  was  a  legislative  union 
between  the  several  colonies  and  the  home  state.  They 
maintained  that  the  Union  was  merely  a  personal  union 
through  the  king,  to  whom  all  owed  allegiance.  In  their 
endeavor  to  find  some  means  of  replacing  the  discarded 
authority  of  Britain,  they  constructed  a  government  which 
should  have  the  power  which  they  had  contended  belonged 
to  the  British  government,  and  no  more.  Under  the  Con 
federation  each  state  possessed  its  own  legislative  body  and 
its  own  system  of  laws ;  Congress  took  the  place  of  the 
British  king  and  exercised  very  nearly  the  same  authority 
that  the  colonists  had  contended  belonged  to  that  monarch. 
For  instance,  Congress  could  make  war  and  conclude  peace, 
and  maintain  an  army  and  navy,  but  it  could  not  tax  the 


1777]  Claims  to    Western  Lands  219 

people  of  the  several  states,  and  had  no  power  to  compel 
obedience  in  a  state  or  an  individual.  It  turned  out  to  be 
uterly  impossible  to  carry  on  the  central  government  under 
this  system. 

169.  Importance  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation. — The   Gravity  of 
Articles  are  contemptible  as  a  scheme  of  government ;  but   J16  CIJ^1 
the  fact  of  their  adoption  was  one  of  the  half-dozen  most   *Froth-' 
important  events  in  the  history  of  the  United  States.     The   ingham's 
people  of  the  thirteen  states,  who  were  struggling  together 

for  independence,  might  have  formed  one  government  or 
thirteen  governments,  or  any  number  of  governments  between 
one  and  thirteen,  as  they  saw  fit ;  that  they  preferred  to 
live  bound  together  by  even  the  loosest  tie,  showed  a  spirit 
of  nationalism  which  was  certain  to  lead  to  better  results. 
Before  condemning  the  men  of  1776  for  drawing  up  such 
an  absurd  scheme,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  they  had  no 
experience  to  guide  them  :  never  before  had  a  confederation 
of  the  size  of  the  United  States  even  been  proposed ;  never 
before  had  any  one  tried  to  write  out  on  paper  a  consti 
tution  for  such  a  federation.  The  adoption  of  the  Articles 
terminated  one  of  the  most  serious  crises  in  the  history  of 
the  United  States.  The  gravity  of  the  occasion  may  easily  be 
gathered  from  the  fact  that  it  was  nearly_fciiir  yeajs  ere  the 
legislatures  of  the  thirteen  states  gave  their  consent  to  the 
new  form  of  government.  The  principal  reason  for  this  delay 
was  the  dispute  which  had  arisen  as  to  the  disposal  of  the 
land  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi. 

170.  Claims  to  Western  Lands.  —  In  1763  the  king  had   Claims  to 
forbidden  the  governors  of  the   colonies   on   the   seashore   |vesjein 

to  grant  to  settlers  any  lands  west  of  the  Alleghanies.     In   Fiske's  Criti- 
1774  Parliament  had  annexed  all  of  this  western  territory   cai  Period, 
north  of  the  Ohio  River  to  the  province  of  Quebec  (p.  161).   ^"^'5 
In  1776,  when  the  colonies  declared  themselves  to  be  inde-   America, 
pendent  states,  they  set  up  their  old  claims  to  western  lands   vn-  aPP- i- 
regardless  of  king  or  Parliament. 

Under  her  old  charter  of  1629  Massachusetts  claimed  all 
lands  west  of  the  settled  portions  of  New  York,  between  the 


220 


The  Constitution 


[§  170 


Claims  of 
the  states. 


Clark's 
western 
campaign, 
1778-79. 
Winsor's   3 
America, 
VI,  716; 
Roosevelt's 
If  'inning  of 
the  West, 
II,  chs.  i-iii; 
Old  South 
Leaflets,  XI, 
Ser.  No.  5. 


parallels  of  points  three  miles  north  of  the  source  of  the 
Merrimac  and  three  miles  south  of  the  source  of  the  Charles. 
Connecticut  based  her  claim  on  the  charter  of  1662,  which 
had  never  been  formally  annulled.  This  gave  her,  she  con 
tended,  a  clear  title  to  all  lands  south  of  the  Massachusetts 
line  as  far  as  the  latitude  of  New  York  City.  The  state  of 
New  York  had  no  claim  under  any  charter,  but  the  Iroquois 
had  given  a  deed  of  cession  of  all  their  lands  to  the  governor 

of  New  York  as  rep 
resentative  of  the 
king.  This  included 
all  the  western  land 
north  of  the  Ten 
nessee  River,  as  the 
Iroquois  had  pre 
tended  to  exercise 
authority  over  the 
Indians  living  in 
this  vast  region.  It 
was  now  urged  thnt 
this  cession  had 
been  made  to  the 
governor  of  the  col 
ony  of  New  York, 
and  that  the  state 
of  that  name  suc 
ceeded  to  the  rights 
which  the  Iroquois 
had  once  possessed. 
Virginia,  on  her 
part,  claimed  nearly  the  same  land,  under  the  charter  of 
1609,  which  had  been  annulled  in  1624  (pp.  54,  57).  She 
also  contended  that  her  soldiers,  led  by  a  Virginia  officer, 
George  Rogers  Clark,  and  paid  out  of  the  Virginia  treasury, 
had  conquered  this  territory  from  the  British  (1778-79). 
Already  colonists  from  Virginia  had  begun  the  occupation 
of  the  region  now  included  in  the  state  of  Kentucky.  The 


General  G.  R.  Clark 


1777] 


Claims  to  Western  Lands 


221 


Carolinians  claimed   lands  south   of  the  Virginia  line  and 
north  of  the   parallel   of  the    Savannah   River,   under    the 
charters  of  1663  and  1665  as  modified  by  the  Georgia  grant   claims  of 
of  1732  (pp.  no,  117).     Georgia  claimed  land  under  the   Georgia.    / 


Claims  and  Cessions 

charter  of  1732,  which  had  been  limited  in  point  of  time 
and  had  been  surrendered  to  the  crown  in  1751.  She 
further  contended  that  the  Proclamation  of  1763,  which 
added  to  her  domains  the  land  lying  between  the  Altamaha 
and  St.  Mary's  rivers  (p.  117),  really  gave  her  a  title  to  all 
the  land  south  of  her  charter  limits  and  north  of  the  Floridas 
—  as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi  River  ! 


222 


The  Constitution 


[§  '72 


Value  of 
these  claims. 


Position  of 
the  other 
states. 


Articles 
ratified  by 
several 
states. 


Maryland 
refuses  to 
ratify. 


171.  Value  of  these  Claims.  —  It  is  impossible  to  say  any 
thing  definite  as  to  the  value  of  these  claims.     It  is  probable 
that  the  claim  of  Connecticut  and  that  of  Massachusetts,  as 
far  as  they  rested  upon  the  charter  of  1691,  would  have  been 
recognized  as  good  in  law.     None  of  the  other  claims  ap 
pears  to  have  much  weight ;  that  of  Virginia,  by  conquest, 
was  the  strongest.     But  the  right  of  any  one  state  to  claim 
lands  conquered  by  her  troops  while  engaged  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  War  could  not  be  defended   on  grounds  of  good 
morals,  especially  as  Virginia  had  seldom  fulfilled  her  mili 
tary  and  financial  duties  to  the  United  States. 

The  other  states — New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland  —  could 
advance  no  claims  to  western  lands  by  grant  from  the  king, 
by  conquest  from  the  British,  or  by  cession  from  the  Indians. 
They  contended,  however,  that  if  this  territory  should  come 
into  the  possession  of  the  United  States  at  the  conclusion 
of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  it  should  be  used  for  the  bene 
fit  of  the  people  of  all  the  United  States,  and  not  for  the 
enrichment  of  the  people  of  a  few  states. 

172.  The   Land  Cessions.— The  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion   were  very   favorable   to   the    interests   of  the  smaller 
states :    Delaware,  New   Jersey,  and    Rhode    Island    might 
justly  think   that   they  would  gain  more  benefit  under  the 
Articles  than  they  could  hope  for  from   the   sale  of   their 
share  of  western  lands.     Pennsylvania,  also,  was  not  much 
interested  in  the  question,  as  she  still  held  thousands  of 
acres  of  unsettled  land  within  her  borders:     The  case  of 
Maryland,  however,   was  very  different :    her   soldiers    had 
played   a  gallant    part  in   the   defense  of  the  country,  al 
though  British  armies  scarcely  touched  her  soil ;   but  she 
had  no  means,  save  taxation,  to  pay  them  for  their  services. 
Virginia  had  already  set  on  foot  a  scheme  to  reward  her 
soldiers  by  grants  of  western  lands,  and  Pennsylvania  might 
easily  do    the    same   from    the   lands   within    her   borders. 
Maryland  had  no  such  resource ;  she  might  well  ask  if  she 
were  being  treated  with  justice.     She  refused  to  ratify  the 


784] 


The  Land  Cessions 


223 


Articles  until  this  great  wrong  were  redressed,  and  thus 
brought  the  matter  to  public  notice.  Congress  declined 
to  enter  into  an  examination  of  the  relative  merits  of  the 
several  claims,  and  suggested  that  all  the  claimant  states 
should  cede  the  lands  claimed  by  them  to  the  United  States, 
to  be  administered  in  the  interests  of  the  whole  people. 
New  York  led  the  way  in  making  the  cession  as  requested, 
and  Virginia  promised  to  do  so  on  certain  conditions.  Con 
fiding  in  the  good 
will  of  the  other 
claimant  states, 
Maryland  withdrew 
her  opposition  to  the 
ratification  of  the 
Articles  of  Con 
federation  (March, 
1781),  and  they 
went  into  force  not 
long  afterwards. 

One  after  another 
che  states  followed 
the  example  set  by 
New  York  and  trans 
ferred  their  claims 
to  western  lands  to 
the  United  States. 
Virginia  (1784).,  in 
making  her  grant 
reserved  the  juris 
diction  and  title  to 
lands  in  Kentucky ;  she  also  retained  certain  lands  north  of 
the  Ohio,  which  had  already  been  promised  to  her  soldiers. 
Massachusetts  (1785)  abandoned  all  title  to  lands  west  of 
Pennsylvania.  Connecticut  (1786)  ceded  the  lands  claimed 
by  her,  except  a  strip  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  length 
lying  directly  west  of  Pennsylvania  :  this  was  called  the  Con 
necticut  or  Western  Reserve,  and  the  proceeds  of  the  lands 


Daniel  Boone 


Cessions  by 
the  states. 
*Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  app.  i. 


New  York. 


Virginia. 


Massachu 
setts  and 
Connecticut. 


224 


The  Constitution 


[§i73 


The  Caro- 
linas  and 
Georgia. 


Policy  of 
Congress  as 
to  western 
lands. 
Schouler's 
United 
Stales,  I, 
108-113. 


Ordinance 
of  1785. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
196-198 ; 
Howard's 
Local  Con 
stitutional 
History,  135. 


thus  reserved  were  used  for  educational  purposes  in  Connect 
icut  ;  in  1800  she  ceded  her  rights  of  jurisdiction  in  this  tract 
to  the  United  States.  South  Carolina  (i  787)  abandoned  her 
claim  to  a  little  strip  twelve  miles  wide  lying  just  south  of 
North  Carolina.  North  Carolina  (1790)  ceded  her  claim  to 
jurisdiction  over  what  is  now  Tennessee,  but  she  had  already 
granted  away  most  of  the  land.  Finally,  in  1802,  Georgia 
followed  the  other  states,  and  ceded  her  claims  to  the  vast 
tract  between  her  present  western  boundary  and  the  Missis 
sippi  River.  Long  before  this,  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  Great 
Britain  had  abandoned  her  right  to  this  whole  western  region. 

173.  The  National  Domain.  —  In  suggesting  that  the 
states  should  transfer  their  claims  to  the  United  States, 
Congress  (1780)  had  also  proposed  that  the  western  lands 
should  be  "  disposed  of  for  the  common  benefit  and  be 
formed  into  distinct  republican  states,  which  shall  become 
members  of  the  federal  union."  Congress  and  the  states 
seem  to  have  agreed  to  regard  this  land  as  national  prop 
erty,  to  be  used  for  national  purposes,  and  its  possession  by 
the  United  States  as  a  whole  worked  powerfully  for  the  con 
tinuance  of  union.  In  the  pre-revoltitionary  days,  the  crown 
had  the  disposal  of  ungranted  lands  within  the  empire  ; 
Congress  regarded  itself  as  the  successor  to  the  crown,  and 
accordingly  undertook  the  management  of  the  public  domain 
of  the  United  States. 

In  1785,  after  the  New  York  and  Virginia  cessions,  but 
before  the  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  cessions,  the 
Congress  of  the  Confederation  passed  an  ordinance,  or  law, 
for  the  government  of  the  territory  north  and  west  of  the 
Ohio  River.  This  Ordinance  provided  for  the  ultimate 
formation  of  several  new  states.  When  formed,  these  states 
were  to  have  republican  governments  and  be  admitted  to 
the  Confederation.  The  Ordinance  originally  contained  a 
clause  prohibiting  slavery  after  the  year  1800,  in  the  western 
country  north  of  the  thirty-first  parallel,  but  this  had  been 
omitted  before  the  final  vote ;  its  origin  may  be  directly 
traced  to  Jefferson.  Little  was  done  to  organize  the  terri- 


17*7] 


The  National  Domain 


225 


tory  under  this  Ordinance ;  but  the  cession  by  Connecticut 
(1786)  again  brought  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  Con 
gress.  Meantime,  a  New  England  land  and  emigration 
society  had  endeavored  to  induce  emigration  to  the  terri 
tory,  but  had  failed  because  settlers  would  not  leave  their 
homes  in  the  East  without  direct  guarantees  of  civil  rights 
in  the  new  settlements  they  were  to  found  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies.  The  society  urged  the  matter  upon  Congress, 
which  replied  by  passing  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  the  most 
important  piece  of  general  legislation  of  the  Confederation 
epoch. 

1A\\ 


From  the  Columbian  Magazine,  1786 

This  Ordinance  applied  only  to  the  territory  northwest 
of  the  Ohio  and  provided  for  the  ultimate  formation  of  from 
three  to  five  states  out  of  that  territory ;  but,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  part  of  a  sixth  state  —  Minnesota  —  was  also  included 
in  this  region.  In  the  first  instance,  Congress  was  to  appoint 
the  governor,  judges,  and  military  officers  of  the  new  terri 
tory  ;  the  governor  and  the  judges  were  to  possess  legisla 
tive  powers,  subject  to  the  veto  of  Congress.  As  soon, 
however,  as  the  free  male  inhabitants  of  full  age  should 
number  five  thousand,  they  should  elect  delegates  to  a 
House  of  Representatives.  This  body,  with  a  governor  and 


Ordinance 
of  1787. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
202-207 1 
Cooley's 
Michigan  ; 
Howard's 
Local  Con 
stitutional 
History, 
137-142; 
Old  South 
Leaflets,  Gen. 
Ser.  No.  13; 
MacDon- 
ald's  Docu 
ments,  No.  4. 


226 


The  Constitution 


[§i73 


Importance 
of  the 
Ordinance. 


council  appointed  by  Congress,  formed  the  territorial  Assem 
bly;  it  possessed  full  legislative  power,  provided  the  laws 
were  not  contrary  to  certain  conditions  laid  down  in  the 
Ordinance ;  and  the  Assembly  could  appoint  a  delegate  to 
Congress,  who,  however,  had  no  vote  in  that  body.  When 
ever  the  population  should  increase  to  sixty  thousand,  the 
territory,  or  a  portion  of  it,  might  be  admitted  to  the  Con 
federation  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  original  states. 
Settlers  in  this  new  region  were  guaranteed  civil  rights,  as, 
for  example,  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  trial 
by  jury,  bail,  and  moderate  fines  and  punishments ;  laws 
impairing  the  obligation  of  prior  contracts  were  forbidden, 
education  was  encouraged,  and  proper  treatment  of  the 
Indians  secured.  The  three  most  important  provisions  of 
the  Ordinance  are  those  which  provided  for  the  equal  dis 
tribution  of  the  property  of  persons  dying  without  a  will, 
prohibited  the  molestation  of  any  person  on  account  of 
religion,  and  forbade  slavery  absolutely  and  forever  except 
as  a  punishment  for  crime, — -with  a  provision  for  the  resto 
ration  of  fugitive  slaves. 

This  Ordinance  was  in  reality  a  form  of  constitution  for 
colonies  to  be  planted  on  the  national  domain  :  it  provided 
for  them  colonial  governments  on  terms  similar  to  those 
which  the  colonists  had  claimed  for  themselves  before  1776  ; 
it  guaranteed  equal  rights  to  the  settlers ;  and  provided  for 
their  admission  to  full  political  rights  as  soon  as  their  num 
bers  justified  an  expensive  form  of  government.  For  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  modern  times,  colonists  and  dwellers 
in  the  home  land  were  to  regard  one  another  as  equals. 

As  the  United  States  has  acquired  new  land,  territories 
have  been  organized  on  this  model,  with  the  omission  in  many 
cases  of  the  clause  relating  to  slavery.  The  new  communities 
formed  on  the  national  domain  have  been  termed  territories' 
and  states.  The  use  of  these  words,  with  the  liberality  of  the 
policy  outlined  above,  has  disguised  the  fact  that  during  the 
present  century  the  United  States  has  been  the  greatest  and 
most  successful  colonizing  power  in  the  world. 


1787] 


Social  Progress 


227 


The  question  of  the  power  of  Congress  to  pass  this  Ordi 
nance  has  given  rise  to  much  discussion :  southern  writers 
generally  have  held  that  it  was  void  and  of  no  effect ;  but 
the  matter  is  really  of  little  importance,  as  the  first  Congress 
under  the  Constitution  re-enacted  it.  The  precise  nature 
of  the  Ordinance  has  also  been  disputed ;  but  usually  it  has 
been  held  that  it  was  in  the  nature  of  a  contract  between 
Congress  and  the  people  of  the  several  states,  which  could 
not  be  changed  except  with  the  consent  of  both  parties  to  it. 

174.  Social  Progress,  1780-89. — The  liberal  and  en 
lightened  provisions  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  as  to  the 
distribution  of  estates,  freedom  of  religion,  and  abolition  of 
slavery  were  the  outcome  of  a  great  social  movement  which 
began  before  the  Revolution  and  continued  long  after  it. 
Old  barriers  were  everywhere  swept  away :  in  1777  tne 
people  of  Vermont,  in  their  constitution,  declared  against 
slavery ;  in  1780  John  Adams  wrote  the  words  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Bill  of  Rights,  which  declared  that  "  all  men  are 
born  free  and  equal,"  and  three  years  later  the  Massachusetts 
Supreme  Court  interpreted  this  clause  to  mean  that  no  per 
son  could  be  legally  held  as  a  slave  in  that  commonwealth ; 
and  (1780)  Pennsylvania  adopted  a  system  of  gradual 
emancipation.  Indeed,  when  the  Constitution  went  into 
effect  (1788),  of  all  the  states  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  New  York  and  New  Jersey  alone  had  not  taken  meas 
ures  to  free  the  slaves  within  their  limits.  During  this  period 
(1783-89)  all  the  states  except  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
had  restricted  or  abolished  the  slave  trade  from  abroad  and 
from  neighboring  states. 

As  to  the  growth  of  liberal  ideas  in  the  settlement  of 
religious  questions,  similar  progress  had  been  made  :  most  of 
the  state  constitutions  declared  for  complete  religious  free 
dom  ;  in  many  states,  however,  Roman  Catholics  were  still 
excluded  from  office,  and  in  Massachusetts  the  dissenting 
faiths  found  it  practically  impossible  to  obtain  the  rights 
which  the  constitution  of  that  state  seemed  to  allow  them. 
Laws  against  the  Roman  Catholics,  which  had  been  on  the 


Legality 
of  the 
Ordinance. 


Social 
Pr°gress. 

Fjske-s  'crit 
cai  Period, 


Slave  eman- 
ciPation- 

Fiske's  Criti- 

Cal  Period, 


Growth 


freedom. 
Fiske's  Criti- 


228 


The  Constitution 


The 

franchise 
liberalized. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
69-71. 


Relations 
with  Great 
Britain, 
1783-89. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
119-133,  138- 
142. 


statute  books  of  the  coloiiies  since  the  seventeenth  century, 
were  repealed,  and  the  Episcopal  Church  was  disestablished 
in  Virginia  and  Maryland.  The  evangelical  faiths  were  organ 
ized  on  a  national  basis,  and  bishops  were  secured  by  the 
Episcopalians,  the  Methodists,  and  the  Roman  Catholics. 

The  conditions  on  which  the  franchise  was  conferred  were 
also  made  more  liberal :  many  states  substituted  a  qualifica 
tion  resting  on  the  payment  of  a  tax  for  the  much  higher 
property  qualification  of  the  colonial  period.  Laws  designed 
to  encourage  the  formation  of  great  estates  by  giving  to  the 
eldest  son  of  a  deceased  parent  the  whole,  or  the  larger 
part,  of  the  property  were  either  greatly  modified  or  entirely 
repealed.  In  fact,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  student  of 
the  history  of  society,  this  period  was  one  of  great  progress ; 
in  other  respects  it  was  the  most  distressful  period  in  the 
nation's  history. 

1 75.  Foreign  Relations,  1783-89. — No  sooner  was  peace 
declared,  than  the  British  merchants  flooded  the  American 
markets  with  goods  of  all  descriptions.  These  found  a  ready 
sale,  for  every  one  was  looking  forward  to  the  future  with 
hopefulness.  Gold  and  silver  were  exported  in  large  quanti 
ties  to  pay  for  these  commodities.  Instead  of  doing  every 
thing  possible  to  place  it  in  the  power  of  the  people  of  the 
new  nation  to  pay  for  goods  already  bought  and  to  continue 
the  purchase  of  British  commodities,  the  government  of  Great 
Britain  enforced  against  them  all  the  commercial  regulations 
which  in  the  earlier  time  had  been  directed  against  foreigners. 
Under  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  Congress  had  no  power 
to  make  counteracting  regulations,  and,  having  nothing  to 
give  in  return,  could  not  compel  the  British  government 
even  to  enter  into  negotiations  for  a  commercial  treaty.  In 
all  this,  the  British  government  proceeded  in  strict  accord 
ance  with  its  rights,  although  the  inexpediency  of  its  actions 
is  clear ;  but  in  other  respects,  it  violated  the  known  rules  of 
international  law.  The  treaty  of  peace  of  1 783,  for  instance, 
required  the  British  to  evacuate  all  military  posts  held  by  their 
forces  within  the  limits  of  the  new  states,  and  not  to  take 


1787]  Foreign  Relations  229 

away  private  property ;  but  the  British  authorities  refused  to 
hand  over  the  posts  in  the  northwest,  and  declined  to  make 
compensation  for  slaves  taken  away  at  the  time  of  the  evacua 
tion  of  Charleston  and  New  York,  —  and  no  compensation 
has  ever  been  made.  On  the  other  hand,  Great  Britain  had 
ground  for  serious  complaint  against  the  United  States  :  the 
treaty  required  that  no  legal  obstacles  should  be  placed  in 
the  way  of  the  collection  of  debts  contracted  before  the  war ; 
but  the  states  refused  to  abolish  existing  obstacles  and  placed 
new  ones  in  the  way  of  the  collection  of  debts  by  British 
creditors.  Congress  had  no  coercive  power  :  it  could  only  Weakness 
expostulate  with  the  members  of  the  Confederation  and  of  Congress, 
excuse  their  actions  to  the  British  government  as  well  as  it 
could.  Under  the  circumstances,  it  is  difficult  to  condemn 
the  action  of  the  British  authorities  in  retaining  the  posts 
and  the  profitable  fur  trade  which  centered  in  them. 

With  Spain  also  there  were  several  disputes :  that  power  Relations 
refused  to  recognize  the  thirty-first  parallel  as  the  southern  with  sPain» 
boundary  of  the  United  States  between  the  Mississippi  and   pis^s  criti- 
the   Appalachicola   rivers,  and   she    maintained    that  "the   cat  Period, 
Floridas  "  ceded  to  her  by  Great  Britain  in  1783  were  the   2o8-2Is; 

\Vinsor's 

Floridas  as  they  had  been  governed  by  British  officials  America, 
(p.  117).  The  Spanish  government  was  also  anxious  to  do  VII,  222-223. 
away  with  the  right  of  the  Americans  to  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi,  which  now  flowed  for  two  hundred  miles 
through  Spanish  territory  (p.  209)  ;  but  this  matter  did  not 
interest  any  large  body  of  the  people  on  the  Atlantic  sea 
board.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  many  persons  who 
desired  commercial  intercourse  with  Spain  and  with  the 
Spanish  colonies.  This  privilege  the  Spaniards  were  willing 
to  grant  on  condition  of  the  abandonment  of  the  free  naviga 
tion  of  the  Mississippi.  Congress  therefore  authorized  Jay, 
who  represented  the  nation  in  foreign  affairs,  to  negotiate 
a  treaty  on  this  basis.  Even  Washington  attached  slight 
importance  to  the  matter ;  Jefferson,  however,  wrote  from 
Paris  that  such  a  policy  would  bring  about  the  separation  of 
the  Eastern  and  the  Western  states.  He  was  right,  for  the 


230  The  Constitution  [§  176 

protests  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  became  so  strong 
that  the  project  was  abandoned.  Foreign  relations  were 
in  this  condition  when  the  organization  of  the  government 
under  the  Constitution  gave  the  United  States  power  to  make 
its  treaties  respected  at  home  and  to  hamper  foreign  com 
merce  by  levying  discriminating  duties. 
Depreciated  176.  Financial  Problems,  1783-86.  —  Within  two  years 

ande<'s?a°ney  after  the  close  °f  the  conflict>  the  Pressure  of  poverty  was 
laws."  fe^  throughout  the  country  as  it  had  not  been  during  the 

Fiske's  Criti-  progress  of  the  war  itself:  the  good  gold  and  silver  pieces 
162^6^'  *e^  t^ie  countrv  to  Pav  f°r  foreign  commodities,  and  only 
old,  worn,  and  clipped  pieces  remained  ;  business  confidence 
disappeared,  and  in  almost  every  state  the  debtor  class 
clamored  for  some  form  of  repudiation  of  their  debts. 
They  especially  demanded  the  emission  of  paper  money 
resting  on  little  or  no  foundation  save  the  credit  of  the  state 
governments.  A  currency  of  this  description  was  known  to 
depreciate  rapidly,  and  one  advocate  of  such  a  plan  pro 
posed  to  embody  a  scale  of  depreciation  in  the  act  author 
izing  the  printing  of  the  bills,  —  a  dollar  to  be  worth  four 
shillings  on  January  i,  three  shillings  on  April  i,  and  two 
shillings  on  July  i.  In  at  least  one  state  all  persons  were 
required  to  accept  paper  money  issued  by  the  state  under 
pain  of  losing  the  right  to  vote  and  a  fine  of  one  hundred 
pounds.  Those  who  owed  money  also  demanded  the  enact 
ment  of  laws  to  delay  the  collection  of  debts  —  stay  laws,  as 
they  were  termed  —  and  "tender  laws,"  which  permitted  a 
debtor  to  offer  goods,  at  certain  rates,  in  discharge  of  his 
debts.  Most  of  the  states,  except  New  Hampshire,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  Virginia,  yielded  to  the  popular  clamor  and 
issued  large  quantities  of  paper  money. 

Trevettw.  The  most  famous  legal  decision  of  the  Confederation 
Weeden.  period  arose  in  Rhode  Island  out  of  the  refusal  of  a  butcher 
named  Weeden  to  part  with  his  meat  in  exchange  for  paper 
money  offered  in  payment  by  a  would-be  purchaser.  The 
latter,  whose  name  was  Trevett,  sued  Weeden,  and  the  case 
was  tried,  without  a  jury,  by  judges  who  were  annually 


1787]  The  Critical  Period  231 

appointed  by  the  legislature.  They  showed  a  courage  worthy 
of  the  dauntless  Stephen  Hopkins:  although  entirely  de 
pendent  on  the  legislature  which  had  passed  this  act,  they 
declared  the  law  unconstitutional,  and  hence  null  and  void., 
This  case  was  one  of  the  earliest  instances  in  American 
legal  history  of  the  judicial  annulment  of  a  law  on  the  ground 
of  its  unconstitutionality.  Its  importance  has  drawn  marked 
attention  to  the  financial  misdoings  of  the  Rhode  Islanders ; 
but  the  standard  of  honesty  throughout  the  thirteen  states 
was,  at  the  moment,  very  low. 

177.    The    Critical   Period,    1786,    1787.  —  The   lack  of   Shays's 
business  confidence,  which  was  mentioned  in  the  last  para-   pfs^°^^. 
graph,  was  due   in  great  part  to  a  growing  determination   Cal  Period, 
among  the  people   to   prevent  by  force   the  collection  of   i77~l86  '• 
debts  by  process  of  law.     This  led  to  armed  conflicts  in   A^ica 
North  Carolina  and  Massachusetts.     In  the  latter  state  the  ¥11,227-231. 
rebels,  led  by  Daniel  Shays  and  Job  Shattuck,  prevented 
the  judges  from  holding  court  in  three  corners  of  the  state  ; 
at  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  state  government  might  be 
overwhelmed.     The  movement  was  put  down,  but  the  reb 
els,  fleeing  to  other  states,  everywhere  found  shelter.     The 
crisis    was  so  threatening   that   Congress   began    to    make 
preparations  to  raise  an  army,  —  on  account   of  an  Indian 
war,  so  it  was  said,  but  really  to  intervene  in  case  the  insur 
rection   assumed    formidable    proportions.     In   addition   to 
these  troubles  within  many  of  the  states,  relations  between 
them  were  by  no  means  harmonious. 

One  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  harmony  was  the  arrange-   Selfish  policy 
ment   whereby  each    state   managed    its   own   commercial   °f  the,  st^tes- 

'  .  r    i     •      Fiske  s  Cnti- 

affairs.     Many  states  sought  to  protect  the  interests  of  their  cal  Peri0dt 
own   citizens,  entirely  regardless  of  the  interests  of  other   i44~I54- 
states,  and,  indeed,  sometimes  at  the  cost  of  their  neigh 
bors.     For  instance,  New  York  endeavored  to  protect  her 
farmers  against  the   competition  of  the  agriculturalists  of 
New  Jersey;   and   when   Massachusetts   proposed   to  pass 
legislation  to  protect  her  shipowners  and  merchants  against 
British  competition,  other  New  England  states  at  once  took 


232 


The  Constitution 


[§178 


Attempt  to 
amend  the 
Articles, 
1780-87. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period^ 
142,  218. 
American 
History 
Leaflets, 
No.  28. 


Proposals 
for  a  consti 
tutional 
convention. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
214-222. 


measures  to  thwart  her  to  their  own  advantage.  By  the  end 
of  1786,  it  was  evident  that  unless  something  were  done 
radically  to  amend  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  civil  war 
would  surely  break  out. 

178.  Attempts  to  amend  the  Articles.  —  Before  all  the 
states   had   ratified   the   Articles    of    Confederation,   their 
weakness  had  been  recognized,  and  an  attempt  had  been 
made  to  amend  them.     The  first  proposition  (1781)  was  to 
give  Congress  the  power  to  increase  the  revenues  of  the 
general  government  by  laying  duties  on  imports  to  the  ex 
tent  of  five  per  cent  ad  valorem.     In  the  course  of  a  year, 
twelve  states  assented  to  the  proposition ;  but  Rhode  Island 
refused.     As  the  consent  of  all  the  states  was  necessary  to 
an  amendment  (p.  217),  the  proposition  failed  of  adoption. 
Two  years  later  (1783),  Congress  suggested  that  it  should 
be   given  power  to  levy  duties  on  imports,  partly  specific 
and  partly  ad  valorem,  the  duties  to  be  collected  by  state 
officials   appointed   by  Congress.     Again  twelve  states  as 
sented   to  the  proposed  change,  but  this  time  New  York 
declined  to  consent,  and  this  proposition  also  fell  through. 
In  fact,  all  attempts  to  amend  the  Articles  failed,  and  Con 
gress  was  not  able  to  pay  even  the  everyday  expenses  of  the 
government.     The  country  was  rapidly  drifting  toward  civil 
strife,  when  a  convention  met  at  Philadelphia  (May,  1787) 
to  propose  a  series  of  changes  in  the  fundamental  law  of 
the  Confederation.     The  meeting  of  this  convention  was 
the  result  of  the   labors  of  a  few   men,  notably  of  James 
Madison  and  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  they  were  greatly 
aided  by  disputes  which  had  arisen  over  the  commercial 
relations  of  the  states  bordering  on  Chesapeake  Bay. 

179.  Genesis  of  the  Federal  Convention.  —  Constitutional 
conventions   are   now  part  of  the  ordinary  machinery  of 
American  government ;  before  1787  they  were  hardly  known. 
The  Massachusetts  constitution  of  1780  had  been  framed 
by  a  convention  composed  of  delegates  especially  elected 
for  that  purpose,  but  all  the  other  state  constitutions  of  the 
Revolutionary  period  had  been  the  work  of  legislative  bodies 


1785]          Genesis  of  the  Federal  Convention  233 

(p.  177),  although  some  of  them  had  borne  the  designation 
of  conventions.  The  Articles  of  Confederation  had  been 
drafted  by  the  Continental  Congress  and  ratified  by  the  state 
legislatures  (p.  217).  Thomas  Paine,  in  Common  Sense 
(p.  179),  had  suggested  that  "a  continental  conference  be 
held  ...  to  frame  a  continental  charter,"  and  in  a  later 
pamphlet,  entitled  Public  Good,  he  had  advocated  a  revision 
of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  ;  and  Massachusetts,  in  1785, 
had  directed  her  delegates  in  Congress  to  propose  a  general 
revision  of  the  Articles.  Nothing  had  come  of  these  sug 
gestions,  and  the  Federal  Convention  was  due  to  entirely 
different  causes. 

The  southern  boundary  of  Maryland  was  the  southern  Alexandria 
bank  of  the  Potomac  River  (p.  61),  but  practically  all  the  Convention, 
commerce  of  that  river  had  its  origin  in  Virginia.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  "  capes  of  the  Chesapeake  "  were  both 
in  Virginia,  but  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  shipping 
which  passed  in  or  out  of  the  bay  was  bound  to  Maryland, 
especially  to  Baltimore,  the  most  thriving  commercial 
town  south  of  Philadelphia.  The  Maryland  regulations 
for  the  Potomac  did  not  please  the  Virginians,  nor  did 
the  Marylanders  at  all  relish  the  payments  which  Virginia 
assessed  on  all  vessels  passing  the  "  capes."  It  happened 
also  that  the  tariff  policies  of  the  two  states  were  very 
dissimilar.  In  short,  there  were  constant  disputes  about 
these  matters.  Several  times  attempts  had  been  made  to 
adjust  these  differences,  but  without  success.  In  1785 
commissioners'  from  Virginia  and  Maryland  met  at  Alex 
andria  and  adjourned  their  conferences  to  Washington's 
mansion  of  Mount  Vernon  near  by.  The  discussions  of 
the  commissioners,  among  whom  were  James  Madison 
and  George  Mason,  soon  extended  to  the  desirability 
of  similar  tariffs  and  commercial  regulations  for  all  the 
states  interested  in  the  navigation  of  Chesapeake  Bay 
and  connecting  waters.  In  their  report,  they  suggested  the 
appointment  of  a  joint  commission  every  second  year  to 
consider  these  topics.  The  Maryland  Assembly  at  once  fell 


234 


TJie  Constitution 


[§  1 80 


Annapolis 

Convention, 

1786. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

25-34- 


Calling  of 
the  Federal 
Convention. 


Delegates 
to  the  Con 
vention. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
222-229 '. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I,  39. 


in  with  the  scheme,  and  invited  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware 
to  appoint  commissioners.  In  Virginia,  a  fierce  contest 
arose:  it  appeared  that  the  Virginia  commissioners  had 
exceeded  their  instructions,  which,  in  all  probability,  they 
had  never  seen,  owing  to  a  curious  combination  of  circum 
stances;  the  matter  had  gone  so  far,  however,  that  Vir 
ginia  could  hardly  draw  back;  in  the  end,  she  proposed 
that  commissioners  from  all  the  states  should  meet  at 
Annapolis  and  consider  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the 
-United  States  as  a  whole.  The  representatives  of  only  five 
states  appeared  at  the  opening  of  this  convention  (1786), 
although  others  were  on  their  way.  Instead  of  waiting  for 
them,  and  proceeding  with  the  business  for  which  the  meet 
ing  had  been  summoned,  the  delegates  present  passed  a 
resolution  providing  for  another  convention  to  amend  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  in 
1787.  Six  states,  including  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
appointed  delegates  to  this  new  convention  before  Congress 
could  bring  itself  to  approve  the  plan  and  recommend  its 
adoption  to  the  states.  On  the  same  day  that  this  vote  was 
passed,  although  ignorant  of  its  passage,  Massachusetts  ap 
pointed  her  delegates,  and,  Congress  having  spoken,  the 
other  states,  except  Rhode  Island,  fell  into  line. 

180.  The  Federal  Convention,  1787.  —  When  the  mem 
bers  of  the  convention  met  for  the  first  time  at  Philadel 
phia  (May  25,  1787),  it  was  at  once  apparent  that,  with  few 
exceptions,  the  strongest  men  in  the  United  States  were 
there.  New  Hampshire  was  not  represented  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  discussion,  Rhode  Island  was  not  represented 
at  all,  and  of  the  Revolutionary  leaders,  John  Adams,  Samuel 
Adams,  John  Jay,  Patrick  Henry,  and  Thomas  Jefferson 
were  not  present.  With  these  exceptions,  however,  the 
men  who  had  shown  the  greatest  ability  in  the  management 
of  affairs  or  in  knowledge  of  men  were  there.  The  oldest 
and  ablest  of  them  was  Benjamin  Franklin,  whose  connec 
tion  with  the  Albany  Plan  of  Union  (p.  138)  and  with  the 
formation  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  has  already  been 


1 787] 


The  Constitution 


235 


described ;  he  was  to  recognize  the  critical  moment  and 
to  suggest  a  compromise  which  made  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  a  possibility.  The  most  prominent  figure  in 
the  assemblage  was  George  Washington,  who  was  already 
"  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen."  He  was  chosen 
to  preside  over  the  convention ;  his  name,  therefore,  seldom 

appears  in  Madison's 
Notes;    but  just   be_ 

fore  the  end  he  made 
an  important  suggestion,  which  was  at  once  adopted  by  the 
convention.     Washington  and  Franklin  made  few  speeches, 
but,    in    all    probability, 
they    exerted    great    in-     T™ 
fluence      in      smoothing 
away      differences,      and 
their    presence    was    an 
inspiration    to   the    other 
members.  Moreover, 

their  approval  of  the 
Constitution  in  its  final 
form  gave  to  the  plan 
a  place  in  the  eyes  of 
large  masses  of  the  peo 
ple  which  it  otherwise 
would  not  have  had.  In 
addition  to  Washington, 
the  Virginian  delegation 
contained  George  Mason,  James  Madison,  and  Edmund 
Randolph,  and  besides  Franklin,  Pennsylvania  was  repre 
sented  by  James  Wilson,  a  great  constitutional  lawyer, 
Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Revolution,  and 
Gouverneur  Morris,  to  whom  the  Constitution  mainly 
owes  its  clear  and  simple  language.  Delaware  sent  John 
Dickinson,  who  had  reported  the  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion.  Connecticut  sent  her  veteran  statesman  Roger  Sher 
man,  who  had  served  in  nearly  every  Congress,  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  and  William  S.  Johnson.  Massachusetts  was 


Gouverneur  Morris 


236 


The  Constitution 


[§181 


Genesis  of 
the  Constit 
tion. 

Winsor's 
America, 
VI I,  237-246; 
*Bryce's 
Common 
wealth  (abd. 
ed.),  chs.  iii, 
xxv,  xxviii, 
xxix. 


Fiske's  Civil 
Government, 
ch.  vii. 


represented  by  four  able  and  experienced  men  :  Elbridge 
Gerry,  Caleb  Strong,  John  Gorham,  and  Rufus  King. 
New  York  sent  Alexander  Hamilton,  New  Jersey,  Governor 
Patterson,  and  South  Carolina  was  represented  by  the  two 
Pinckneys  and  John  Rutledge.  These  were  the  foremost 
men  in  that  remarkable  assemblage,  but  all  the  members 
were  men  of  mark,  of  experience,  and  of  ability. 

The  convention  met  daily,  with  brief  adjournments  to 
facilitate  the  work  of  committees,  until  September  17,  when 
it  finally  adjourned.  Its  discussions  were  secret,  and  it 
was  not  until  long  afterwards,  when  Madison's  Notes  were 
printed,  that  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  its  delibera- 
5ns  were  known. 

181.  Nature  of  the  Constitution.  —  The  best  way  to 
jach  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  Constitu 
tion  is  to  read  Madison's  Notes.  The  student  will  at  once 
notice  the  straightforward  character  of 
the  debates  of  the  convention,  and  will 
be  impressed  with  the  patriotism  and 
the  good  sense  of  its  members.  It  is  surprising  to  observe 
how  little  they  relied  upon  theoretical  considerations,  and 
how  much  they  confided  in  the  test  of  experience.  The  Con 
stitution  is,  in  reality,  a  most  skillful  adaptation  of  the  best 
features  of  the  existing  state  constitutions  to  the  needs  of 
a  federation.  A  few  things  in  it  were  necessarily  new,  for 
the  problem  to  be  settled  was  new.  An  historical  student 
familiar  with  colonial  history  and  with  the  constitutions  of 
the  Revolutionary  epoch  can  find  precedents  for  nearly  all 
its  more  important  features.  Instead  of  having  been 
"  struck  off  at  a  given  time  from"  the  brain  and  purpose  of 
man,"  as  Mr.  Gladstone  declared,  it  was  the  result  of  the 
experience  of  the  English  race  in  Britain  and  in  America. 
The  idea  of  a  written  constitution  was  not  new;  every 
colonial  government  had  been  regulated  in  conformity  with 
a  written  document, —  a  charter  or  a  commission  and  its 
accompanying  instructions.  The  origin  of  the  Supreme 
Court  can  be  found  in  the  authority  exercised  by  the  Privy 


1787]  The  Great  Compromises  237 

Council  in  annulling  colonial  acts  which  were  contrary  to 
the  fundamental  laws  and  usages  of  England,  to  a  charter, 
or  to  a  commission.     The  veto  power  exercised  by  the 
President  was  drawn  from  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts. 
The  idea  of  the  Electoral  College  was  derived  from  the 
Maryland  constitution.     There  is  no  more  truth  in  the 
remark  of  Sir  Henry  Maine,  that  the  Constitution  is  "a 
modified  version  of  the  British  Constitution,"  than  there  is 
in  the  saying  of  Mr.  Gladstone  mentioned  above.     The  / 
principal  new  points  were  the  attempt  to  form  a  detailed  / 
written  constitution  for  a  federation,  and  its  submission/ 
to  the  people  for  ratification. 

182.    The  Great  Compromises.  —  It  is  hardly  correct  to   Plans  for  a 
describe   the   convention   as   divided    into  parties;    it  is  new  Consti- 
true,  however,  that  parties  were  formed  on  nearly  every  Fiske's  Criti- 
important  question,  and  that  oftentimes  the  same  states  cai  Period, 
would  group  themselves  together  on  several  propositions.   o3u~24,9'. 
The  first  division  came  about  at  the  very  beginning,  when    united 
Edmund  Randolph,  in  the  name  of  the  Virginia  delegation,   states,  i, 
introduced  a  plan  which  was  mainly  the  work  of  Madison  4I~45' 
and  had  received  the  sanction  of  Washington.    This  scheme, 
known  as  the  Virginia  plan,  provided  for  the  formation  of 
a  national  government  with  a  legislative  body,  or  Congress, 
of  two  houses,  in  both  of  which  representation  should  be 
based  on  population;  the  scheme  also  contemplated  that 
the  executive  and  judicial  officers  should  be  appointed  by 
the  Congress.     This  plan  would  have  placed  the  govern 
ment  in  the  hands  of  the  larger  states,  and  it  was  fiercely 
attacked  by  the  delegates  from  the  smaller  states.     The 
latter,  however,  were  in  the  minority;  for,  as  we  have  seen., 
Rhode  Island  was  never  represented  at  all,  and  New  Hamp 
shire's  representatives  did  not  arrive  until  July  23.     By 
this  time  the  convention  had  settled  many  of  the  main 
features  of  the  plan,  and  the  majority  of  New  York's  dele 
gation  had  retired   in   disgust   at   the   evident   intention 
of  the  convention   to  override  the  wishes  of  the  smaller 
states, — it  must  be  remembered  that' New  York  was  then 


238  The  Constitution  [§  182 

regarded  as  one  of  the  smaller  states.  The  representatives 
of  these  states  then  supported  a  scheme  brought  forward 
by  Patterson  of  New  Jersey,  and  known  as  the  New  Jersey 
plan.  This  provided  for  the  continuance  of  the  existing 
government,  but  gave  Congress  power  to  regulate  commerce, 
to  raise  revenue,  and  to  coerce  the  states.  These  were  the 
most  important  schemes  presented  to  the  convention;  but 
Hamilton  read  a  plan  for  a  strong  centralized  government 
in  which  the  states  would  have  little  power;  he  knew  that 
such  a  plan  "was  very  remote  from  the  ideas  of  the  people," 
and  offered  it  only  as  a  statement  of  his  own  views  on  the 
matter.  Charles  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina  also  pre 
sented  a  plan,  which  resembled  the  Virginia,  scheme  in 
general  outline  but  was  much  more  detailed.  The  contest 
turned  on  the  Virginia  and  the  New  Jersey  plan,  and  the 
former  was  adopted  as  the  basis  of  a  new  constitution. 
Compromise  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  smaller  states  would  with- 
on  represen-  draw>  but  finally>  through  the  efforts  of  Roger  Sherman  and 

tut  ion, 

Fiske's  Criti-  Benjamin  Franklin,  a  compromise  was  effected  which  gave 
cat  Period,      the  states  equal  representation  in  the  Senate  and  propor 
tional  representation  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  "  federal       The  next  question  was  the  apportionment  of  representa- 
_  .,.    tives  in  the  lower  house.    Slavery  still  existed  in  the  South; 

Fiske  s  Criti-     .        .  .      .  J  , 

cat  Period,      should  slaves,  who  had  no  vote,  be  counted  in  estimating 
256-262;         the  representation  of  that  section  in  Congress?     And  what 
Leaflet"  GZV.   snou^  ^e  done  as  to  direct  taxes, —  should  these  be  appor- 
Ser.  No.  70.     tioned  among  the  states  according  to  their  total  popula 
tions,  or  should  the  slaves  be  omitted  from  this  estimate? 
This  matter  was  finally  compromised  by  providing  that  both 
representation  and  direct  taxes  should  be  apportioned  among 
the  states  according  to  a  ratio  which  should  be  ascertained 
"by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  including 
those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding 
Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons,"  namely, 
slaves.    This  provision  was  called  "  the  federal  ratio,"  and, 
so  far  as  it  related  to  representation,  greatly  increased  the 
political  power  of  the  slave  owners. 


1787]    A   Government  of  Checks  and  Balances       239 

The  third  great  compromise  also  turned  on  the  question  Compromise 
of    slavery :    the   New   Englanders,   largely  interested   in  on  the  slave 
commerce,  were   anxious   that  Congress    should  be  given   pfske'.s  Criti. 
power  to  protect  American  shipping  interests  against  for-  cai  Period, 
eign  competition  by  means  of  discriminating  duties,  navi-  262~267' 
gation  acts,  or  other   similar   measures;  the  Southerners, 
fearful  lest  this  power  would  be  used  to  prohibit  the  slave 
trade,   resisted.      The  South  Carolinians  were   especially 
sensitive  and  Rutledge  even  declared  that  the  question  of 
whether  "  the  Southern  States  shall  or  shall  not  be  parties 
to  the  union  "  depended  upon  the  mode  in  which  this  mat* 
ter  was  arranged.     In  the  end,  Congress  was  given  power 
over  commerce,  but  was  forbidden  to  prohibit  the  slave 
trade  before  1808,  though  it  might  levy  a  tax  of  ten  dollars 
on  each  slave  imported.     This  qualification  proved  to  be 
valueless,  as  no  tax  of  the  kind  was  ever  voted  by  Congress 
(p.  270).     These  compromises  were  on  vital  points;  but 
the  element  of  compromise  entered  into  the  settlement  of 
nearly  every  section  of  the  Constitution.     It  will  be  well 
now  to  glance  at  a  few  of  the  leading  features  of  that  great 
instrument. 

183.    A  Government  of  Checks  and  Balances. — The  only  The  Con- 
way  to  grasp  the  real  meaning  of  the  Constitution  is  to  stitution. 
read  it  carefully  several  times  and  to  memorize  the  more  /fy£*^* 
important  sections  of  it.     An  analysis  of  the  document  is  Leaflets, 
inadequate,  for  the  Constitution  is  itself  only  a  summary.   ^°t'r^ts  to 
In  this  section  and  in  those  which  follow,  a  few  only  of  the  be  mem- 
more  important  considerations  which  have  affected  its  life  orized, 
will  be  stated.  Guide, 

One   of   the   first   things   to   strike   the   reader    is    the   « checks  and 
endeavor   of  its   framers    to    establish    "  a   government   of  balances." 
checks    and    balances."      Three    great     departments    are 
provided  :    the   legislative,  the  judicial,  and  the  executive.    / 
Each  is  given  power  to  defend  itself  against  the  encroach 
ments   of  the   other   two,   and    each   acts   as  a  check  on 
the    others.     The    Constitution   framers    had   good   reason 
to  attempt  the  accomplishment  of  this   difficult  purpose; 


240 


The  Constitution 


[§184 


The 

legislative 
powers. 
*Bryce's 
Common 
wealth 
(abd.  ed.), 
chs.  ix-xx; 
Fiske's  Civil 
Government, 

212-222. 


in  the  old  colonial  days,  which  most  of  them  remem 
bered,  the  governors  of  the  royal  provinces  had  exercised 
all  three  functions,  greatly  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the 
colonists;  and  the  legislative  body  of  Great  Britain  had 
held  the  supreme  power.  To  avoid  establishing  a  govern 
ment  which  could  develop  into  either  of  these  forms,  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  sought  to  give  each  department 
its  due  share  of  power,  and  to  prevent  any  one  department 
from  making  itself  supreme.  For  instance,  the  executive 
power  is  vested  in  the  President;  but  he  also  exercises 
important  legislative  functions  in  his  yeto,  and  judicial 
power  in  his  right  to  pardon.  The  legislative  power  is 
lodged  in  Congress,  but  the  Senate  acts  as  an  advisory 
council  to  the  President, —  without  its  consent  no  important 
appointment  can  be  made  and  no  treaty  ratified.  The 
judicial  power  is  intrusted  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  in 
ferior  courts;  but,  as  no  law  can  be  enforced  which  the 
Supreme  Court  declares  to  be  unconstitutional,  the  Supreme 
Court,  in  fact,  exercises  supreme  legislative  functions. 
Finally,  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  means  of  its 
initiative  in  taxation,  exercises  a  most  effectual  control 
over  the  executive  department. 

184.  The  Legislative  Power.  —  The  legislative  power  is 
confined  to  certain  subjects  enumerated  in  the  Constitution, 
and  is  further  restricted  by  the  first  ten  amendments, 
especially  by  the  tenth,  which  declares  that  "the  powers 
not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively  or  to  the  people."  The  Supreme  Court  is  the 
authorized  interpreter  of  the  fundamental  law,  and  it  has 
construed  the  Constitution  in  the  broadest  possible  way; 
following  these  decisions,  Congress  has  exercised  powers, 
many  of  which  were  probably  never  dreamed  of  by  the 
framers  of  that  instrument  or  by  the  members  of  the  ratify 
ing  conventions,  whose  votes  gave  it  the  force  of  law. 
Acts  of  Congress  are  "the  supreme  law  of  the  land,"  unless 
the  Supreme  Court  declares  them  unconstitutional,  and 


1787]  The  Stipreme  Court  241 

hence  null  and  void.  In  the  exercise  of  this  extensive 
grant  of  power,  Congress  can  pass  no  ex  post  facto  laws,  but 
the  prohibition  to  enact  legislation  "  impairing  the  obliga 
tion  of  contracts  "  applies  only  to  the  states  and  does  not 
affect  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

The  states,  on  the  other  hand,  are   forbidden  (Art.  i,    Limited 
§  10)  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  foreign  states,  to  coin   {jJJT^tes 
money,  emit  bills  of  credit,  make  anything  except  gold 
and  silver  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts,  pass  any  law 
impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  grant  titles  of  nobil 
ity,  lay  imposts, —  except  to  secure  the  enforcement  of 
inspection  laws,  maintain  an  army  or  navy  in  time  of  peace, 
or  engage  in  war  unless  actually  invaded. 

185.    The  Supreme  Court.  —  In  place  of  long,  detailed    Functions  of 
descriptions  of   the  powers  granted,   the  framers  of  the    court?1" 
Constitution  used  general  descriptive  phrases  and  then  gave   *Bryce's 
Congress  (Art.  i,  §  8)  power  to  pass  laws  "  necessary  and    (-ommon~ 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,    (abd-  ed>)t 
and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the    ch.  xxi; 
United  States,  or  in  any  department  or  officer  thereof."  ' 

Among  other  things,  Congress  is  authorized  "to  regulate  250-254. 
commerce  with  foreign  nations  and  among  the  several 
states,"  and  "to  lay  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises 
to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and 
general  welfare  of  the  United  States."  It  must  be  evident 
to  every  student  that  when  such  general  phrases  are  used  in 
the  organic  law,  the  body  which  has  the  final  decision  as 
to  their  meaning  possesses  the  most  important  and  weighty 
functions  in  the  state.  This  tribunal  is  the  Supreme  Court,  Position  of 

the  Supreme 

whose  members  are  protected  from  molestation,  as  they  court, 
hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and  receive  salaries 
"which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance 
in  office."  The  Supreme  Court,  too,  unlike  other  federal 
courts  exists  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution,  and  cannot  be 
abolished  by  act  of  Congress.  Its  judges,  therefore,  are 
independent  of  all  men  to  an  extent  not  known  elsewhere. 
The  court  has  no  initiative,  and  is  not  consulted  before 


242 


The  Constitution 


[§186 


Importance 
of  the  inter 
pretation 
of  the 

Constitution. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  251- 
255 ;  *Bryce's 
Common 
wealth 
(abd.  ed.), 
chs.  xxii- 
xxiii,  xxxi. 


the  passage  of  a  law ;  its  functions  are  confined  to  cases 
" arising  under  the  Constitution";  and  it  has  no  com 
mon-law  criminal  jurisdiction.  Following  the  precedent 
set  by  the  Rhode  Island  judges  in  the  case  of  Trevett 
vs.  Weeden,  the  Supreme  Court  has  always  regarded  the 
Constitution  in  the  light  of  a  fundamental  law,  to  be 
interpreted  according  to  the  mode  sanctioned  by  the  law. 
Upon  these  decisions  the  development  of  the  country  has 
depended  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  would  at  first  sight 
appear.  Recurring  to  the  phrases  given  at  the  beginning 
of  this  section,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  upon  the  inter 
pretation  of  such  a  phrase  as  "  commerce  between  the  states, " 
"Congress  shall  have  power,"  and  " necessary  and  proper," 
the  whole  framework  of  government  depends.  Does  the 
third  of  these  limit  the  function  of  Congress  to  the  pas 
sage  of  such  laws  only  as  are  absolutely  essential  to  the 
carrying  out  of  the  powers  granted  by  the  Constitution,  or 
does  the  phrase  "necessary  and  proper  "  mean  convenient? 
Does  the  clause  "Congress  shall  have  power  to  tax"  mean 
only  that  Congress  may  levy  a  tax,  or  does  it  mean  that 
Congress  may  legislate  on  any  subject  connected  with  taxa 
tion,  for  instance,  establish  a  national  bank  because  such 
an  establishment  conduces  to  the  easy  collection  of  taxes? 
Or,  to  take  another  case,  does  the  authority  "  to  regulate 
commerce  "  mean  simply  that  Congress  can  secure  for  the 
commerce  of  one  state  free  entrance  into  another  state,  or 
does  it  mean  that  Congress  may  regulate  railway  fares  and 
determine  what  kind  of  couplings  for  freight  cars  shall  be 
used  by  railroads  which  run  through  more  than  one  state? 
The  Supreme  Court  has  generally  adopted  the  broadest 
views  on  questions  of  this  kind;  and  thus  has  arisen  the 
doctrine  of  "implied  powers,"  conferring  cm  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  every  function  which  may  be 
convenient  for  the  exercise  of  any  power  that  the  Constitu 
tion  has  conferred  on  the  general  government. 

1 86.    Political  Parties.  —  Around  this  question  of  constitu 
tional  interpretation  there  was  waged  a  political  controversy 


1787]  Political  Parties  243 

which  lasted  from  the  formation  of  the  government  to  the  Genesis  of 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.     The  party  which  has  been  in  Polltlcal 

parties. 

the  minority  in  the  country,  as  a  whole,  has  been  strong  in  schouier's 
separate  states,  and  usually  has  been  strong  in  a  group  of  United 
states  in  some  one  section.     For  example,  the  Republicans  Johnston?' 
were  predominant  in  the  Southern  states  in  1 798,  the  Fed-   Orations, 
eralists,  in  New  England  in  1814,  and  the  Democrats,  in  the  I»77- 
Southern  states  in  the  time  of  the  contest  over  the  extension 
of  slavery.     The   party  which    has  been  in  a  minority  for  states'  rights 
any  length  of  time  has  usually  adopted  that  theory  of  con-  doctrine, 
stitutional  interpretation  which  would  confer  on  one  state 
the  right  to  block  the  action  of  the  general    government. 
The  theory  on  which  this  interpretation  has  rested  was  that 
the    Constitution  was    a   "compact"    between    "sovereign 
states."     To  protect  the  rights  of  the  states  from  invasion,  it 
was  essential  that  the  Constitution  should  be  strictly  con 
strued  to  preserve  to  the  states  every  power  not  expressly 
conferred  by  it  on  the  central  government.      This  States' 
rights  doctrine  was  held  by  the  Republicans   in    1798    and 
*799   (P-  286),  by  the  New  England  Federalists  in  1814 
(p.  344),  by  Calhoun  and  the  South  Carolinians  at  the  time 
of  the  nullification  episode  (p.  391),  and  by  the  leaders  in 
the  secession  of  1 860-61  (p.  473). 

The  party  which  has  controlled  the  national  government   T, 
has  generally  maintained  the  opposite  doctrine  :    that  the    national 
Constitution  was  the  framework  of  a  national  government   existence, 
formed  by  "  the  people  "  of  the  whole  United  States  acting  in  its 
sovereign  capacity.   According  to  this  theory,  the  Constitution    ' 
should  be  interpreted  to  give  the  central  government  whatever 
powers  were  convenient  as  aids  to  the  carrying  out  of  its  func 
tions.    In  this  way  originated  the  doctrine  of  implied  powers 
(p.  242).     This  theory  of  a  liberal  interpretation  of  the 
organic  law  was  held  by  Hamilton  and  his  party  at  the  organ 
ization  of  the  government  (p.  272),  by  Jefferson  when  in 
power  (p.  327),  by^.Marshall  throughout  his  long  tenure  of 
the  chief  justiceship  (p.  350),  by  Webster  in  his  reply  to 
Hayne  (p.  393),  and  by  Lincoln^  and  the  Republican  party. 


244  The  Constitution  [§187 

The  wording  of  the  Constitution  is  indefinite  in  many 
respects,  but  this  indefiniteness  has  been  far  from  being  a 
disadvantage.  On  the  contrary,  it  has  proved  to  be  a  source 
of  strength ;  for  the  Constitution  has  been  capable  of  in 
terpretation  according  to  the  varying  wishes  of  the  people 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  times.  This  has  contributed 
to  the  stability  of  the  government,  which  has  been  further 
strengthened  by  the  slowness  with  which  new  ideas  and 
interpretations  can  be  acted  upon  and  by  the  natural  con 
servatism  of  the  American  people. 

Process  of  187.    Stability  of  the  Constitution.  —  It  is  true  that  the 

amendment,  framers  of  the  Constitution  provided  a  mode  by  which  the 
instrument  might  be  amended  (Art.  v)  ;  but  the  method 
which  they  devised  for  this  purpose  has  proved  difficult  in 
practice.  More  than  seventeen  hundred  amendments  have 
been  proposed  in  an  official  manner,  but  only  fifteen  hav?' 
become  part  of  the  organic  law.  This  number  liilght  be 
reduced  still  further,  as  the  first  ten  amendments  are  in  the 
nature  of  a  Bill  of  Rights,  and  were  adopted  at  one  time ; 
the  last  three,  also,  relate  to  one  subject,  and  were  the  out 
come  of  the  Civil  War.  If  the  first  ten  are  regarded  as  one, 
and  the  last  three  also  as  one,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Con 
stitution  has  been  changed  only  four  times  by  process  of 
amendment.  Furthermore,  it  is  well  to  note  that  between 
1804  and  1865  not  a  single  amendment  was  adopted. 
Slowness  Another  cause  which  has  greatly  contributed  to  bring 

of  change,      about  this  stability,  is  the  slowness  with  which  a  political 

*Brvce's 

Common-       party  can  gain  control  of  the  machinery  of  the  government. 

•wealth  (abd.  At  the  outset,  the  Federalists,  who  had  secured  the  adoption 
'xrxiii  °^ tne  Constitution,  obtained  possession  of  all  three  depart 
ments;  the  great  revolution  which  occurred  in  1800  gave 
the  mastery  of  the  executive  and  the  legislative  branch  to 
the  Republicans,  but  the  judiciary  remained  in  the  control 
of  the  Federalists  for  a  generation.  The  only  example  of 
a  sudden  change  in  the  policy  of  all  three  departments 
occurred  in  1861,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  and 
that  was  caused  by  the  refusal  of  the  Southerners  any  longer 


1787]  Stability  of  the  Constitution  245 

to  take  part  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 
This  slow  movement  of  the  political  machinery  is  due  mainly 
to  the  different  terms  of  office  of  the  executive,  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  and  of  the  justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  The  last  hold  their  positions  for  life, 
and  as  fast  as  they  die  or  resign,  their  places  are  filled  by 
the  President  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  latter  body  are  chosen  by  the  legislatures  of  the 
several  states,  and  serve  for  six  years  —  one  third  retiring 
biennially.  The  President  holds  office  for  four  years  ;  he  is 
elected  indirectly  by  the  people,  but  in  choosing  him  the 
people  of  the  smaller  states  have  more  influence  in  propor 
tion  to  their  numbers  than  have  the  voters  of  the  more 
populous  states ;  this  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  the  elec 
toral  college  no  state  has  fewer  than  three  votes.  More 
over,  when  no  candidate  for  the  presidency  has  received  a 
majority  of  all  the  electoral  votes,  the  choice  devolves  upon 
the  House  of  Representatives,  voting  by  states.  The  Presi-  Dispropor- 

dent  may,  therefore,  be  the  choice  of  a  minority  of  the  tlonate  rePre* 

* '  J  sentation 

people,  and  this  has  happened  more  than  once,  as,  for  ex 
ample,  in  1824.  The  representatives  are  chosen  for  two 
years  by  the  voters  of  the  several  states,  and  their  number 
was  apportioned  among  the  several  states  according  to  "  the 
federal  ratio"  (p.  238)  until  the  adoption  of  the  Thirteenth 
and  the  Fourteenth  amendments  abolished  slavery,  but  each 
state,  regardless  of  its  population,  has  at  least  one  represen 
tative.  It  will  be  seen  from  this  brief  statement  that  before 
the  Civil  War  the  people  of  no  state  were  represented  in  any 
branch  of  the  general  government  according  to  population 
or  voting  strength.  And  even  now,  since  the  adoption  of  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment,  they  are  so  represented  only  in  one 
portion  of  the  three  great  departments.  A  minority  of  the 
people,  therefore,  has  frequently  controlled  the  government 
and  directed  the  policy  of  the  nation.  Moreover,  it  has 
often  happened  that  the  President  and  Congress  have  repre 
sented  two  divergent  views  of  political  action.  Even  when 
this  has  not  been  the  case,  the  President  and  the  represen- 


246 


The  Constitution 


[§  1 88 


Functions  of 
the  Presi 
dent. 
*Bryce's 
Common 
wealth  (abd. 
ed.),  chs.  iv- 
viii,  xxiv ; 
Fiske's  Civil 
Government, 
224-240. 


tatives  have  often  stood  for  one  party,  while  the  Senate  has 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  other  party,  and  has  been  able  to 
thwart  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  the  country. 
These  arrangements  have  made  legislation  difficult,  and 
have  prevented  sudden  changes ;  but  they  have  contributed 
most  strongly  to  maintain  the  stability  and  strength  of  the 
government. 

188.  The  President.  — "  The  President  of  the  United 
States,"  to  use  the  official  title  conferred  on  the  chief  magis 
trate  by  the  Constitution,  occupies  a  peculiar  position  among 
rulers  of  modern  times.  Representing  the  whole  people  and 
all  the  states  as  no  other  man  represents  them,  he  enters 
upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  after  taking  a  solemn  oath 
"to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States"  (Art.  ii).  In  peaceful  times,  he  acts  merely 
as  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation,  being  obliged  to  gain 
the  consent  of  the  Senate  to  all  important  appointments 
and  to  treaties  concluded  with  foreign  powers.  He  is 
otherwise  free ;  for  although  he  may  consult  the  heads  of 
the  great  departments,  he  need  not  heed  their  advice.  In 
the  interpretation  of  his  powers  as  chief  executive  and  as 
commander  in  chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  he  acts  upon  his 
own  responsibility.  It  is  true  that  the  Senate  passed  a  vote 
of  censure  on  Jackson  (p.  406),  but  Jackson's  reply  defend 
ing  the  independence  of  the  executive  department  was  con 
clusive.  The  Supreme  Court  has  also  interfered  to  control 
the  President  (p.  403),  but  it  has  no  power  to  enforce  its 
decisions  as  against  the  chief  executive/  The  President  can 
be  impeached  by  the  House  of  Representatives  and  con- 
victed  by  the  Senate,  but  only  for  "  treason,  bribery,  or  other 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,"  and  only  with  the  consent 
of  two  thirds  of  the  senators  present  (p.  543). 

In  time  of  war,  especially  of  civil  war,  the  President's 
powers  have  no  limit ;  he  may  exercise  functions  resem 
bling  those  of  a  dictator.  For  instance,  Lincoln  issued 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation  (p.  515)  by  virtue  of  these 


war  powers. 


The  President  is  obliged 


to  defend  the 


1 78?] 


Ratification  of  the  Constitution  247 


Constitution "  and  to  secure  the  "  faithful  execution  of  the 
laws."  To  attain  these  objects  he  may,  at  his  discretion,  use 
the  whole  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States.  He  can  act 
without  consultation  with  any  one  —  unless  he  so  desires  — 
and  he  concerns  himself  only  with  the  violators  of  the  laws, 
no  matter  who  they  may  be. 

189.  Ratification  of  the  Constitution,  1787,  1788.  —  Con 
gress  had  authorized  the  Federal  Convention  to  propose 
amendments  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation  whose  ratifica 
tion,  under  the  Articles,  would  require  the  consent  of  all  the 
thirteen  states.  The  frarners  of  the  Constitution  had  pro 
ceeded  in  an  entirely  different  spirit :  the  first  resolution 
adopted  by  them  declared  that  "  a  national  government  ought 
to  be  established."  In  submitting  the  result  of  their  labors  to 
Congress,  they  stated  :  "  In  all  our  deliberations  ...  we 
kept  steadily  in  view  that  which  appears  to  us  the  greatest 
interest  of  every  true  American,  the  consolidation  of  our 
Union,  in  which  is  involved  our  prosperity,  felicity,  safety, 
perhaps  our  national  existence."  Furthermore,  they  pro 
posed  a  method  of  ratification  of  the  new  instrument  which 
was  in  itself  unconstitutional  —  according  to  the  Articles  — 
and  in  opposition  to  the  vote  of  Congress  under  which  they 
had  acted :  they  recommended  to  Congress  that  the  new 
instrument  of  government  should  be  voted  on  by  conven 
tions  elected  by  the  people  of  the  several  states  for  this 
express  purpose,  and  that  the  consent  of  nine  states  should 
be  sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  "  be 
tween  the  states  so  ratifying  the  same."  Congress  carried 
out  the  wishes  of  the  convention  in  this  regard,  and  voted 
(September  28,  1787)  to  transmit  the  Constitution  "to  the 
several  legislatures,  in  order  to  be  submitted  to  a  conven 
tion  of  delegates  chosen  in  each  state  by  the  people 
thereof."  It  is  important  to  note  this  process  in  detail, 
as  the  Constitution  begins  with  the  words  :  "  We  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  ...  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Con 
stitution."  But  what  does  the  phrase  "  We,  the  people  of 
the  United  States,"  signify?  On  the  one  hand,  it  has  been 


End  of  the 
Convention. 
Old  South 
Leaflets,  Gen. 
Ser.  No.  i, 
p.  17;  Schou- 
ler's  United 
States,  I, 
61-79. 


Process  of 
ratification. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
306-345. 


248 


The  Constitution 


[§189 


Breach  of 
the  Articles 
of  Confed 
eration. 


maintained  that  the  state  conventions  were  used  merely  as 
a  convenient  means  for  ascertaining  the  will  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  as  a  whole ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  urged  that  the  people  of  the  several  states,  each  sov 
ereign  in  itself,  ratified  the  Constitution.  If  this  latter  were 
the  correct  view,  it  would  necessarily  follow  that  a  state 
which  had  acceded  to  the  Constitution  could  withdraw  from 
the  new  union  by  simply  holding  another  convention  and 
repealing  the  ratifying  ordinance.  As  an  historical  fact  — 
entirely  apart  from  legal  and  theoretical  considerations  — 
it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  this  was  the  view  of  the  voters 
whose  consent  gave  the  Constitution  its  validity  :  the  voters 
of  each  state  regarded  themselves  as  perfectly  at  liberty  to 
enter  the  new  union  or  not  as  they  saw  fit,  and  if  they  had 
supposed  for  an  instant  that  once  in  the  Union  withdrawal 
would  be  impossible,  it  is  probable  that  nine  states  would 
never  have  ratified  the  Constitution.  While  this  is  all  true 
concerning  the  opinions  and  intentions  of  those  who  gave 
force  to  the  organic  law,  it  is  also  true  that  from  the  point 
of  view  of  history  it  would  be  impossible  to  point  to  a 
moment  of  time  when  any  state  was  "  a  sovereign  state." 
"  The  Union,"  as  Lincoln  said,  "  is  older  than  the  states  "  ; 
no  state  ever  existed  apart  from  the  Union ;  no  state  ever 
exercised  complete  sovereign  power. 

Another  point  to  which  attention  should  especially  be 
called  is  the  fact  that  the  mode  of  ratification  was  contrary 
to  the  existing  constitution,  —  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
—  which  required  the  consent  of  the  legislatures  of  all  the 
states  to  its  amendment.  Yet  now  (1789)  eleven  states,  or 
"the  people  of  the  United  States"  living  in  eleven  states, 
by  ratifying  the  Constitution  formed  a  new  union,  and  left 
the  two  hesitating  states  to  get  along  as  well  as  they  could. 
Bearing  all  these  facts  in  mind,  it  is  to  a  study  of  the  de 
bates  of  the  ratifying  conventions  that  the  student  must 
turn  to  obtain  a  true  conception  of  the  intentions  of  the 
makers  of  the  organic  law.  "  The  Constitution,"  said  Madi 
son  in  1796,  "as  it  came  from  the  convention  was  nothing 


1 788] 


Ratification  of  the  Constitution 


249 


more  than  the  draft  of  a  plan ;  nothing  but  a  dead  letter, 
until  life  and  validity  were  breathed  into  it  by  the  voice  of 
the  people  speaking  through  the  several  state  conventions 
which  accepted  and  ratified  it." 

Between  December,  1787,  and  June,  1788,  ten  states  rati 
fied  the  Constitution ;  New  York  followed  in  July,  and  only 
Rhode  Island  and  North  Carolina  were  out  of  the  Union  at 
the  time  of  its  organization.  The  period  extending  from 
the  publication  of  the  report  of  the  convention  to  the  rati- 


Stratford  House,  Westmoreland,  Virginia.     Birthplace  of  R.  H.  Lee 

fication  of  New   Hampshire    and  Virginia,   the  ninth   and 
tenth  states  (June,  1788),  was  one  of  the  most  critical  and 
momentous   in  the  history   of    America.      The  friends  of 
the  Constitution  termed  themselves  Federalists,  and  called 
their   opponents   Anti-Federalists ;    but  these  terms  hardly 
described  the  positions  of  the  contending  parties.      Patrick   Opposition 
Henry  was  probably  the  ablest  opponent  of  ratification  ;  he   to  ratifica- 
declared  himself  to  be  in  favor  of  a  federal  form  of  govern-   winsor's 
ment,  and  objected  to  the  proposed  Constitution  because  it   America, 
would  establish  "  one  great,  consolidated,  national  govern-   VII>  247~25I- 


250 


The  Constitution 


Amendments 
of  the  Con 
stitution. 


ment  of  all  the  people  of  the  states."  Other  honest,  high- 
minded,  and  patriotic  men  opposed  ratification  because  they 
desired  a  more  democratic  form  of  government  than  the  one 
proposed  by  the  Convention.  Another  most  weighty  objec 
tion  to  the  scheme  lay  in  the  omission  of  any  clear  statement 
of  the  rights  of  the  people.  The  question  at  issue,  however, 

was  the  acceptance 
of  the  proposed  Con 
stitution,  or  anarchy 
and  civil  war.  It 
was  absolutely  nec 
essary  to  ratify  the 
Constitution  as  it 
stood ;  but  those 
opposed  to  it  were, 
in  a  measure,  satis 
fied  by  the  suggestion 
of  amendments  which 
might  be  made  as 
soon  as  the  new  gov 
ernment  should  be 
organized. 

The  government 
was  no  sooner  organ 
ized  than  Congress 
put  such  of  these 
suggestions  as  it  ap 
proved  into  the  form 

of  ten  amendments,  which  were  promptly  ratified  and 
declared  in  force,  November,  1791.  These  amendments 
provide  that  (Art.  ix)  "the  enumeration  in  the  Constitu 
tion  of  certain  rights,  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny  or  dis 
parage  others  retained  by  the  people,"  and  (Art.  x)  that 
.-"  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States,  ....  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  or 
to  the  people."  The  other  eight  amendments  provide  for 
the  separation  of  church  and  state,  protect  the  freedom  of 


Richard  Henry  Lee 


iy8B]  The  Constitution  251 

the  press  and  of  petition,  guarantee  trial  by  jury,  and,  in 
general,  provide  the  safeguards  for  personal  liberty  which 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Bills  of  Rights  of  the  Revolutionary 
epoch. 

Had  these  amendments    been  part   of  the  Constitution   Importance 

when   it  was   laid    before    the    ratifying   conventions,   they  of the  first  ten 

...  *    amendments, 
would  have  gone  far  to  remove  the  objections  of  men  like 

Patrick  Henry  and  Samuel  Adams.  Their  importance 
can  hardly  be  overestimated,  and  it  should  always  be  care 
fully  borne  in  mind  that  the  Constitution,  as  originally 
framed  by  the  Federal  Convention,  was  practically  never  in 
operation. 

Alexander  Hamilton  had  slight  confidence  in  the  efficacy 
of  the  Constitution  to  provide  a  stable  government  for  the 
country ;  but  he  recognized  that  it  was  the  only  organic  law 
which  could  be  established  and  that  it  was  far  better  than 
the  Articles  of  Confederation.     He,  therefore,  used  all  his 
influence  and  his  great  talents  to  secure  its  adoption".     As 
one  means  of  instructing  public  opinion,  he  wrote  a  series 
of  articles  which  were  printed  in  the  newspapers  under  an  Extracts  in 
assumed  name.     These,  with  a  few  others  trom   the  pens  ^fj^y 
of  John  Jay  and  James   Madison,  were  afterwards  gathered   NO.  7,  Gen. 
into  a  volume  entitled   the  Federalist.     This  treatise  is  to-   Ser-  No- I2- 

day  the  best  commentary  on  the  Constitution  and  should  be 

, .         Old  South 
studied  by  all  who  desire  to  have  a  thorough  understanding   Leaflets,  v, 

of  its  provisions.  The  best  statement  of  the  views  of  the  No.  6. 
opponents  of  ratification  were  the  Letters  of  a  Federalist 
Farmer,  by  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  the  speeches  of  Pat 
rick  Henry  in  the  Virginia  Ratifying  Convention.  For 
many  years,  it  was  customary  for  historical  writers  to  ridi 
cule  the  arguments  put  forward  by  Patrick  Henry,  R.  H. 
Lee,  George  Mason,  Samuel  Adams,  and  George  Clinton. 
More  recently,  there  has  been  a  disposition  to  study  the 
history  of  this  memorable  epoch  in  a  fairer  spirit,  and  to  do 
justice  to  the  patriotism  and  ability  of  these  leaders  of  public 
opinion. 

The  Constitution  has  proved  deficient  in  a  few  respects : 


252  The  Constitution  [§  189 

for  instance,  it  contains  no  provision  to  enable  the  general 
government  to  acquire  new  territory.  Many  writers  have  de 
plored  the  concessions  which  were  made  to  the  slave  owners  ; 
but  the  great  difficulties  of  the  time  in  dealing  with  that 
grave  problem  should  be  remembered.  When  all  has  been 
said,  however,  the  Constitution  remains  the  most  marvellous 
written  political  instrument  that  has  ever  been  made.  It 
was  designed  by  men  familiar  with  the  mode  of  life  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  to  provide  an  escape  from  the  evil 
conditions  of  that  time,  and  to  furnish  a  practicable  form  of 
government  for  four  millions  of  human  beings  inhabiting  the 
fringe  of  a  continent.  It  has  proved,  with  few  exceptions, 
sufficient  for  the  government  of  seventyVmillions,  living  in 
forty-five  states,  covering  an  area  imperial  in  extent,  and 
under  circumstances  unthought  of  in  1787. 


Questions  and  Topics  253 


SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 
§  1 66.  NATIONALISM  AND  PARTICULARISM 

a.  Define  nationalism;   distinguish  it  from  the  principle  of  national 
ity;   define  particularism. 

b.  Methods  of  representation :  distinguish  between  local  represen 
tation,  national  representation,  representation  according  to  population; 
give  arguments  for  and  against  each  method. 

§§  167-169.  THE  ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION 

a.  Discussion  of  the  text :     Arts,  i,  ii,  iii.      Discuss  minutely  the 
phraseology  of  the  title  and  the  first  three  articles  as  to  the  bearing  of 
their  significant  words  and  provisions  upon  nationalism;   compare  with 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  with  the  Constitution. 

Article  V.  State  objections  to  one  national  legislative  house  and 
prove  their  validity;  to  annual  elections  to  such  a  legislative  body;  to 
payment  of  its  members  by  the  states  individually. 

Article  VIII.  What  provision  fatal  to  federal  authority  does  this 
article  contain?  Prove  your  answer. 

b.  Collect  the  matter  of  the  articles  under  the  following  heads  and 
compare  it  with  similar  matter  in  the  Constitution :    Form  of  govern 
ment  (territory,  finance,  commerce,  foreign  relations,  peace  and  war, 
enforcement  of  laws).     Division  of  power  between  federal  and  state 
authority.     Express  limitations,  prohibitions,  and  obligations. 

c.  Recite  the  clauses  of  the  Constitution  which  remedy  the  defects 
of  Arts,  ii  and  ix,  of  v,  of  vi,  of  viii,  of  xiii. 

§§  170-173.  THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN 

a.  Point  out  the  peculiar  hardships  of  Maryland's  position,  and  com 
ment  upon  her  conduct. 

b.  What  two  principles  enunciated  by  Congress  in  1780  became  the 
foundation  of  the  territorial  system  of  the  United  States? 

§  174.  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

a.  Describe  and  give  arguments  in  favor  of  the  freehold  qualification 
for  suffrage.  Discuss  as  basis  for  suffrage :  property,  education,  man- 

253 


254  The  Constitution 

hood,  birth.     What  restrictions    upon   suffrage    exist   to-day  in   your 
state?  in  your  city  or  town? 


§§  I75~I78-   FOREIGN  AND  DOMESTIC  AFFAIRS 

a.  Pick  out  the  clauses  in  the  Articles  which  prevented  Congress 
from  making  "  counteracting  regulations." 

b.  Place  in  note-book  as  headings :  "  Secession,"  "Theory  of  States' 
Rights,"  "  National  Theory,"  and  enter  under  each  all  fitting  material. 

c.  Quote  the  clauses  of  the  Constitution  which  "  gave  the  United 
States  power  to  make  its  treaties  respected  at  home  and  to  hamper 
foreign  commerce  by  levying  discriminating  duties."     Why  should  we 
not  levy  discriminating  duties  to-day? 

d.  Look  up  Gresham's  Law  and  illustrate  it  by  matter  in  §  176. 
Can  a  legislative  body  fix  the  value  of  money?    Look  up  the  history  of 
the  French  assignats. 

e.  Draw  a  parallel  between  the  condition  of  the  United  States  in 
1783-86  and  in  1893-96  under  the  following  heads  :   uncertain  standard 
of  value,  movement  of  the  currency  medium,  resulting  condition  of 
currency,  effects  upon  confidence,  decision  of  the  people. 

f.  Enumerate  the  reasons  for  which  the  years  1786,  1787,  are  called 
"The  Critical  Period."     Which  was  the  most  important?     Why? 

§§  179,  1 80.  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION 

a.  Put  as  heading  in  note-book,  "  Influence  of  Commercial  Ques 
tions  in  shaping  the  History  of  the  United  States";  review  colonial 
history  and  enter  all  fitting  matter;  as  you  advance  make  new  entries. 

§§  181-189.  THE  CONSTITUTION 

a.  Read  the  Constitution  sentence  by  sentence  and  try  to  find  in 
your  knowledge  of  colonial  history  and  of  colonial  documents  prece 
dents  for  each  provision. 

b.  Enter  in  note-book  as  three  separate  heads  the  Three  Compro 
mises  of  the  Constitution  and  trace  their  history  as  you  advance     What 
amendments  affect  these  compromises,  and  how?     Had  the  first  com 
promise  any  good  points  except  making  federation  possible?      Do  you 
think  that  compromise  makes  a  good  foundation  for  a  government? 

c.  What  is  meant  by  a  "government  of  checks  and  balances"? 
Point  out  the  checks  and  balances  of  the  Constitution;   note  especially 
how  far  participation  of  power  as  well  as  division  of  power  exists. 

d.  What  are  the  joint  powers  and  privileges  of  the  two  Houses? 
What  the  special  powers  of  each  House  ? 


Questions  and  Topics  255 

e.  Point  out  in  what  respects  the  Supreme  Court  has  an  authority 
undreamed  of  in  the  ancient  world  and  unrivalled  in  the  modern  world. 
How  is  it  given  control  and  guarded  from  interference?     How  is  the 
authority  of  the  Court  maintained?     What  is  its  weak  point?     Explain 
in  what  respects  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  have  aided  in  the 
development  of  the  United  States. 

f.  Put  in  note-book  as  heading,  "  Minority  Control  of  Government"; 
enter  instances  with  explanations  as  you  proceed. 

g.  What  is  the  present  ratio  of  representation  to  population?    What 
states  at  present  have  a  smaller  population  than  is  expressed  in  the 
ratio?     What  effect  upon  our  development  has  their  representation? 

h.   In  how  many  respects  were  the  acts  of  the  Federal  Convention 
revolutionary? 

i.    Who  ratified  the   Constitution,  each  state  singly  or  the  people 
acting  for  convenience  in  groups? 

j.   Draw  an  imaginary  picture  of  results  if  the  North  had  not  com 
promised  on  slavery.     Can  you  justify  the  action  of  the  North? 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

a.  Represent  upon  an  Outline   Map  the  western  claims  and  the 
actual  cessions  to  the  United   States  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
New  York,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia. 

b.  Make  any  necessary  changes  in  the  map  of  your  state. 

c.  Explain  by  recitation  the  map  and  changes  you  have  made. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Has   the   Constitution    established    a  federal   government   or.  a 
national  government? 

b.  Distinguish  between  "  inherent,"  "  delegated,"  and   "  implied  " 
powers  and  tell  when  each  kind  exists. 

c.  Point  out  in  the  Constitution  the  powers  "delegated,"  "prohib 
ited,"  or  "reserved." 

d.  Which  country,  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain,  has  the  more 
conservative  constitution?     Why? 

e.  Our  self-control  in  allowing  laws  made  by  representative  bodies 
to  be  annulled  by  the  Supreme  Court  has  been  much  admired :  how 
do  you  account  for  this  self-control? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION 
(See  directions  under  this  head  on  p.  48.) 

a.   Compare  Franklin's  Plan  with  the  Albany  Plan  and  with  the 
Constitution  (216,  119,  239). 


256  The  Constitution 

b.  Compare  the  Articles  of  Confederation  with  the  other  plans  and 
with  the  Constitution, 

c.  Make  a  topical  analysis  of  the  Articles;   do  the  same  with  the 
Constitution. 

d.  Make  a  topical  analysis  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787;   note  espe 
cially  points  of  resemblance  to  the  Constitution  (225,  last  reference  >. 

e.  Make  a  topical  analysis  of  the  several  attempts  to  amend  the 
Articles  (232,  last  reference  of  first  group). 

/   Compare  the  arguments  of  Madison  and  of  Henry  (251). 
g.    Show  how  far  the  Constitution  meets  the  requirements  of  Wash 
ington's  letter  to  the  governors  (211,  239). 


As  preparation  for  the  next  chapter  study  the  lives  of  Washington, 
John  Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  Alexander  Hamilton,  under  the 
following  heads :  personal  appearance,  temperament,  mental  endow 
ments,  moral  nature,  social  position,  political  principles,  popular 
regard,  influence  in  shaping  United  States  history. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   FEDERALIST   SUPREMACY,  1789-1800 

Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings. — Johnston's  American  Politics,  19-54;  Higgin- 
son's  Larger  History,  309-344;  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union,  141- 
175;  Walker's  Making  of  the  Nation,  73-167. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Wilson's  Presidents ;  Lodge's  Washington 
(S.  S.) ;  Sumner's  Hamilton  (M.  A.) ;  Schouler's  Jefferson  (M.A.)  ; 
Pellew's/tf}/  (M.  A.);  *McMaster's  United  States  ;  Schouler's  United 
States;  *Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History;  *Hildreth's  United 
States;  *Taussig's  Tariff  History  ,*  Larned's  History  for  Ready  Refer 
ence.  Larger  biographies  of  the  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §  25. 

Sources.  —  Cooper  and  Fenton,  American  Politics;  American  His 
tory  Leaflets ;  Johnston's  American  Orations ;  Old  South  Leaflets ; 
Preston's  Documents ;  Stedman  and  Hutchinson,  Library  of  Ameri 
can  Literature;  MacDonald's  Documents;  Benton's  Abridgment; 
Williams's  Statesman's  Manual.  Writings  of  the  leading  statesmen, 
Guide,  §§  32,  33. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  S^ a,  56 b  (General  Readings),  §§  157-166  (Topics  and  References). 

Illustrative  Material. — A.  L.  Lowell's  Essays  on  Government; 
Upham's  Timothy  Piekering ;  Austin's  Gerry ;  Flanders's  Chief  Jus 
tices  ;  Sullivan's  Familiar  Letters;  Maclay's  Journal;  J.  Adams's 
Diary;  Shaler's  Kentucky;  Drake's  Making  of  the  West;  Roosevelt's 
Winning  of  the  West;  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries. 

Brackenridge's  Modern  Chivalry;  Brown's  Arthur  Mervyn; 
Cooke's  Leather  Stocking  and  Silk;  Kennedy's  Swallow  Barn; 
Arlo  Bates's  Old  Salem  ;  "  A  Girl's  Life  Eighty  Years  Ago  "  in  Scrib- 
ner's  Magazine,  May,  1887  ;  Goodrich's  Recollections  of  a  Lifetime ; 
Gayarre's  Aubert  Dubayet. 

THE   FEDERALIST   SUPREMACY,  1789-1800 

190.  Washington  elected  President.  —  The  Federal  Con-  Dilatoriness 
vention  made  its  report  to  Congress  in  September,  1787,  and  of  Congress, 
the  ninth  state,  New  Hampshire,  voted  to  ratify  the  Con-  I?  9' 

257 


258 


The  Federalist  Siipremacy 


[§ 


Election  of 

Washington. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  1,79; 

*Stanwood's 

Elections, 

1-16. 


Adams  and 

Hamilton. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

80-82. 


stitution  on  June  21,  1788  ;  but  it  was  not  until  April  30, 
1789,  that  George  Washington  took  the  oath  of  office  as 
first  President  of  the  United  States.  The  Congress  of  the 
Confederation  had  set  an  earlier  date,  March  4,  for  the 
inauguration ;  but  the  men  of  that  day  were  accustomed  to 
being  late.  It  was  not  until  another  month  had  passed  away 
that  a  quorum  of  both  houses  of  the  first  Congress  under  the 
Constitution  was  in  attendance  to  count  the  electoral  ballots, 
and  ascertain  the  choice  of  the  electors  for  President  and 
Vice-President. 

No  one  had  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  the  fittest  man  for 
the  presidency  ;  every  elector  voted  for  Washington.  That 
great  man  was  now  in  his  fifty- eighth  year.  One  of  the 
richest  men  in  America  and  the  foremost  leader  of  the  Vir 
ginia  aristocracy,  he  represented  the  best  elements  in  Ameri 
can  society  of  that  time ;  for  the  framework  of  society  was 
still  aristocratic,  although  the  tendency  was  distinctly  toward 
democracy.  In  politics,  Washington  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
have  belonged  to  any  party  at  this  time.  He  had  entered 
most  heartily  into  the  plan  for  the  formation  of  a  national 
government ;  but  he  was  not  a  man  to  think  deeply  on  theo 
ries  of  government.  He  was  rather  a  man  of  action  and  an 
administrator.  The  necessity  of  the  hour  was  a  stronger 
central  government :  to  attain  that  important  object,  Wash 
ington  was  anxious  to  use  every  proper  means  at  his  com 
mand  and  to  employ  the  services  of  leading  men  of  all 
shades  of  political  belief. 

191.  John  Adams  elected  Vice-President. — For  second 
place  there  was  no  such  unanimity  of  opinion  as  in  the  case 
of  Washington.  The  foremost  candidate  was  John  Adams 
of  Massachusetts.  He  had  been  one  of  the  leaders  in  the 
earlier  days  of  the  Revolution,  and  had  later  represented 
the  United  States  abroad,  especially  in  England.  Unfor 
tunately,  he  had  written  a  book  in  which,  among  other 
things,  he  suggested  that  "  the  rich,  the  well-born,  and  the 
able,"  should  be  set  apart  from  other  men  in  a  Senate. 
The  proposal  to  elevate  "  the  rich  "  and  "  the  able  "  did  not 


1789]  Political  Tendencies  259 

arouse  much  opposition ;  but  the  use  of  the  phrase  "  the 
well-born  "  greatly  injured  Adams's  popularity.    As  the  Con 
stitution  then  stood,  each  elector  voted  for  two  persons  with 
out  stating  which  of  them  he  wished  to  be  President.     The 
one  who  received  most  votes  should  be  President,  provided 
he  received  a  majority ;  the  person  receiving  the  next  high 
est  number  should  be  Vice-President.      Alexander  Hamil 
ton,  to  whom  the  ele-  -         *  ^ 
vationof'thewell-         l-fifo         /. 
born"    would    have    /7  (//(// L/ ^// 
been  most  welcome,    (/ 

conceived  the  idea  that  Adams  might  receive  more  votes 
than  Washington,  and  intrigued  to  prevent  it.  The  scheme 
became  known  to  Adams,  and  proved  to  be  the  beginning 
of  a  long  and  unfortunate  quarrel,  which  had  most  serious 
consequences  for  the  party  of  which  Adams  and  Hamilton 
soon  became  the  chiefs. 

192.   Political  Tendencies,  1789.  —  There  were  no  political   Political 
parties  in  the  United  States  in  1789  ;  but  the  political  leaders   tendencies- 
and  the  voters  were   divided   in  precisely   the  manner  in 
which   they  had  been    during  the  contest  over  the  ratifi 
cation  of  the   Constitution.      No  sooner  was  the   task  of 
reorganization   begun    than    these    different   views    showed 
themselves.     Two  men  were  soon  recognized  as  the  leaders 
of  these  opposing  camps,  and  may  be  considered  as  rep 
resenting  in  their  own  persons  the  ideas  that  were  held  by 
the  two  political  parties  in  the  earlier  portion  of  our  history 
under  the  Constitution.     The  first  of  these  tendencies  ex 
pressed  itself  in  the  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
individual,  to  give  him  greater  political  power,  more  com 
forts  in  life,  greater   intelligence,   and   in  general  to  raise,' 
the  more  ignorant  and  ruder  portion  of  society.    The  second 
declared  itself  in  the  wish  to  make  the  welfare  of  the  indi 
vidual  depend  on  the  growth  of  the  nation  and  to  rely  for 
support  on  "  the  well-born,"  the  intelligent,  and  the  richer  j 
portion   of    the    community.      With    the    former   of  these 
tendencies  was  identified  Thomas  Jefferson,  Washington's 


260 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§  192 


Thomas 

Jefferson. 

Schouler's 

United 

States, 

I,  189; 

*Morse's 

Jefferson 

(S.S.). 


Secretary  of  State;  with  the  latter,  Alexander   Hamilton, 
Washington's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  the  author  of  the  Summary  View  and 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  representative  of  the 
United  States  in  France,  was  now  in  the  prime  of  life. 
In  many  ways  he  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men 
America  has  produced.  An  aristocrat  by  birth  and  breed 
ing,  the  owner  of  slaves,  and  the  designer  of  and  dweller  in 
one  of  the  most  elegant  mansions  of  that  day,  he  was  the 


Monticello,  Jefferson's  mansion 

leader  of  democracy,  the  champion  of  the  rights  of  man,  and 
the  persistent,  though  powerless,  advocate  of  slave  eman 
cipation.  When  President,  he  seemed  to  enjoy  shocking 
the  prejudices  of  very  particular  persons  :  Washington  had 
established  stately  ceremonials,  Jefferson  conducted  official 
gatherings  on  the  principle  of  "pell-mell"  —  each  guest 
doing  pretty  much  as  he  pleased ;  Washington  had  driven 
in  coach  and  four  to  and  from  the  halls  of  Congress,  Jeffer 
son  rode  on  horseback,  unattended,  from  the  White  House 
to  the  Capitol  and  hitched  his  horse  with  his  own  hands  in 


1789]  Political  Tendencies  261 

a  neighboring  shed.  More  curious  still,  Jefferson,  a  man  of 
unpractical  ideas,  was  the  shrewdest  political  leader  of  his 
day.  Shy,  reluctant  to  attend  crowded  meetings,  and  with 
out  magnetism,  he  led  the  masses  and  won  the  greatest 
popularity  in  one  of  the  most  difficult  periods  of  our  history. 
In  person  Jefferson  was  tall,  six  feet  two  inches  in  height, 
with  sandy  hair  and  a  most  sunny  countenance.  He  was 
ungainly  in  figure  and  seemed  always  "  to  be  jumping  out 
of  his  clothes,"  and  he  sat  or  reclined  on  one  hip  in  a 
manner  which  impressed  at  least  one  keen  observer  who 
has  described  him. 

Unlike  Jefferson  in  every  respect,  Alexander  Hamilton  was   Alexander 
small  in  stature  and  was  always  well-dressed.     A  great  ad-    Hamilton- 

,  i  i         r  •  11-  i     Schouler's 

mmistrator  and  capable  of  attracting  men  by  his  personal    united 
qualities,  he  led  his  party  to  a  most  crushing  defeat.     His   states, 
success  in  organizing  the  machinery  of  the  government  en-   g^^er's 
titles  him  to  the  gratitude  of  the  nation,  and  the  part  he   Hamilton 
played  in  securing  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  gives    (M- A-)- 
him  a  foremost  place  in  the  annals  of  the  United  States.     He 
deserves  the  more  credit  for  this,  perhaps,  because  he  had 
no  faith  that  the  new  Constitution  would  provide  a  sufficient 
government  for  the  country.     In  1802  he  wrote  :  "Perhaps 
no  man  .  .  .  has  sacrificed  or  done  more  for  the  present 
Constitution  than  myself;  and,  contrary  to  all  my  anticipa 
tions  of  its  fate  ...  I  am  still  laboring  to  prop  the  frail 
and  worthless  fabric.  .  .  .     Every  day  proves  to  me  more 
and  more  this  American  world  was  not  made  for  me."     In 
these  sentences  may  be  found  the  reason  for  the  political 
failure  of  Hamilton  and  his  friends.     He  had  no  sympathy 
with  the  desires  of  the  masses  for  self-improvement.     He 
had  no  confidence  in  their  ability  to  conduct  successfully 
the  affairs  of  the  country.     In  one  noted  phrase  he  stated 
the   reason   of  his   failure  as  a  political  chief.     It  was   at 
a  dinner  when,   replying   to  some   remark  that  had  been 
made,   Hamilton   declared :    "  Sir,   your  people  is    a  great 
beast."     But  it  was  the  people  that  must  govern  under  the 
Constitution,  or  republican  government  was  a  failure.     Far 


262 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§  193 


Washing 
ton's  inaugu 
ration,  1789. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
84-90; 
Old  South 
Leaflets,  V, 
No.  8,  Gen. 
Ser.  No.  10. 


Fears  of 

monarchical 

tendencies. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

126-140. 


otherwise  was  Jefferson's  view  of  the  people.  In  a  letter 
written  in  1787  he  said:  "I  am  persuaded  that  the  good 
sense  of  the  people  will  always  be  found  the  best  army. 
They  may  be  led  astray  for  a  moment,  but  will  soon  correct 
themselves."  The  Federalist  party  endeavored  so  to  frame 
the  governmental  machinery  that  a  minority  of  the  people 
could  govern  the  majority ;  the  attempt  ended  in  disaster. 

193.  Washington's  Inauguration,  1789.  —  Washington 
"  bade  adieu,"  to  use  his  own  words,  "  to  Mount  Vernon,  to 
private  life,  and  to  domestic  felicity ;  and  with  a  mind  op 
pressed  with  more  anxious  and  painful  sensations  than  I  have 
words  to  express,"  set  out  for  New  York  to  take  the  oath 
of  office  as  the  first  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
cheers  which  greeted  him  on  his  journey  did  not  lessen  his 
sense  of  the  deep  responsibilities  which  surrounded  him. 
His  inaugural  was  especially  solemn  :  he  addressed  "  fer 
vent  supplications  to  that  Almighty  Being  who  rules  over 
the  universe  .  .  .  that  his  benediction  may  consecrate  to 
the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  a  government  instituted  by  themselves,  .  .  .  and 
may  enable  every  instrument  employed  in  its  administration 
to  execute  with  success  the  functions  allotted  to  his  charge." 

Colonial  customs  and  traditions  derived  from  English 
precedents  were  still  the  rule.  Washington,  inclined  to 
be  stiff  and  formal,  instituted  a  rigid  ceremoniousness  in 
official  intercourse  which  seemed  little  like  republicanism. 
During  the  recesses  of  Congress,  he  traveled  around  the 
country  in  an  almost  regal  fashion.  Everywhere  he  was 
enthusiastically  received :  at  one  place  he  was  greeted 
with  "  God  bless  your  reign  " ;  at  another  he  was  hailed 
as  "  Columbia's  Savior."  At  Boston,  however,  John  Han 
cock,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  endeavored  to  uphold  the 
dogma  of  state  sovereignty  by  refusing  to  make  the  first  call ; 
but  usually  the  stiffest  Anti- Federalists  forgot  their  consti 
tutional  scruples  and  heartily  joined  to  do  honor  to  "  The 
President."  All  these  things,  however,  when  coupled  with 
Hamilton's  well-known  predilection  for  a  government  mod- 


George  Washington 
After  a  mask  made  from  the  living  face,  1785 


263 


264 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§ 


First  Tariff 
Act,  1789. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
96-102. 


eled  on  that  of  Great  Britain  in  the  days  of  the  unreformed 
Parliament,  convinced  many  men  that  the  restoration  of  the 
monarchical  form  was  the  aim  of  the  Federalists.  Probably 
the  charge  was  not  true  in  any  case.  ~ 

1 94.  Organization  of  the  Government.  —  On  April  8,  we~eks 
before  Washington  took  the  oath  of  office,  Madison  intro 
duced  a  resolution  in  the  House  of  Representatives  which 
led  to  the  first  debate  upon  protection,  and  finally  to 
the  formation  of  the  first  tariff  act.  This  law,  which  Wash- 


A  room  at  Mount  Vernon 

ington  signed  shortly  after  the  inauguration,  proved  insuffi 
cient  to  provide  the  necessary  funds,  and  the  rates  were 
increased  in  1 790  and  again  in  1 792.  A  Tonnage  Act,  which 
was  passed  at  about  the  same  time,  provided  for  a  discrimi 
nation  in  favor  of  goods  imported  in  American  vessels  and 
excluded  foreign  vessels  from  the  coastwise  trade.  It  was 
further  suggested  that  vessels  flying  the  flags  of  nations  not 


1789]  Organization  of  the  Government          265 

having  commercial  treaties  with  the  United  States  should  be 
taxed  more  heavily  than  vessels  belonging  to  more  friendly 
countries.  This  bill  was  aimed  especially  at  the  foreign 
shipping  interest  ;  but  the  influence  of  merchants  engaged 
in  commerce  with  Great  Britain  was  exerted  to  defeat  the 
proposal,  and  the  attempt  was  abandoned. 

Congress  then  turned  its  attention  to  the  organization  of  Executive 
the  new  government.    Five  administrative  departments  were   dePartment 
created  :  the  sjtate  department,  which  at  first  had  to  do  with 


both  home  and  foreign  affairs;  the  treasury;  the  war  depart-  United 
ment,  which  also  managed  the  trifling  naval  affairs  for  the  f^^1' 
next  few  years  ;  the  department  of  justice,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  the  Attorney-General  ;  and  the  post_o_ffice.  The 
heads  of  these  departments  were  appointed  by  the  President 
with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  but  they  were  removable  by 
him  without  action  by  the  Senate  (see  p.  246)  ;  it  had  been 
proposed  to  make  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  responsible 
to  Congress,  but  this  proposal  had  been  abandoned.  The 
first  four  of  these  departmental  heads  acted  as  the  Presi 
dent's  advisers  ;  the  Postmaster-General  remaining  for  the 
present  outside  of  what  was  termed  the  cabinet.  In  thinking 
of  this  organization  and  using  the  words  "  advisers  "  and 
"  cabinet,"  the  student  should  always  carefully  bear  in  mind 
that  the  President  is  not  obliged  in  the  smallest  degree  to 
follow  their  advice  or  even  to  ask  it.  Congress  further 
made  provision  for  the  appointment  of  collectors  of  the 
customs,  district  attorneys,  and  other  officials  to  carry  on 
the  business  of  the  government. 

Congress   also    provided    for    the    organization    of    the   The 
Judiciary.     The  Supreme  Court  comprised  a  Chief  Justice   Judiciary 
'and   five  Associate  Justices,   and    thirteen  district  courts   schouler's 
were    established.     Between   the    district   courts   and  the    United 
Supreme  Court  were  the  circuit  courts,  three  in  number;    states>  l>  I07 
they  were  held  by  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the 
judges    of    the   district  courts.     Provision   was  made   for 
the  appointment  of   the   necessary  officials,   as  marshals, 
who  held  office  for  four  years;  in  this  latter  enactment, 


266 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§^95   . 


Hamilton's 
report  on 
finances. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
144-149 ; 
MacDonald's 
Documents, 
Nos.  6,  8. 


Hamilton's 
plan. 


some  students  see  the  germ  of  the  spoils  system  which  was 
later  developed  by  the  extension  of  this  limited  tenure  of 
office  to  all  of  the  less  important  positions  in  the  executive 
branch  (p.  390). 

195.  Hamilton's  Financial  Measures.  —  In  January,  1 790, 
Hamilton,  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  presented  to 
Congress  an  elaborate  report  on  the  public  credit,  which 

should  be  carefully 
studied  by  all  who 
desire  to  understand 
Hamilton's  clear  in 
sight  into  financial 
matters,  and  to  ap 
preciate,  at  their  full 
value,  the  great  ser 
vices  he  rendered  to 
his  adopted  country. 
It  appeared  that  the 
United  States,  as  the 
successor  of  the 
Confederation,  owed 
about  fifty-four  mil 
lion  dollars  in  prin 
cipal  and  accrued 
but  unpaid  interest. 
Eleven  millions  of 
this  was  owed  abroad.  As  to  this  portion,  which  was  gen 
erally  termed  the  "foreign  debt,"  all  agreed  with  the 
secretary  that  it  should  be  paid  in  full  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  original  contracts.  As  to  the  larger  portion, 
which  was  owed  to  citizens  of  the  United  States,  —  the 
"domestic  debt,"  as  it  was  called, —  there  was  no  such 
unanimity  of  opinion.  There  had  been  hardly  any  market 
at  all  for  these  obligations;  holders  had  been  fortunate  to 
sell  their  holdings  at  one  fifth  of  the  face  value.  Hamilton 
proposed  to  fund  this  part  of  the  debt  at  par;  but  to  this 
proposal  there  was  much  opposition.  It  was  argued  that 


Mrs.  Alexander  Hamilton 


1790] 


Hamilton  s  Financial  Measures 


267 


this  arrangement  would  be  unjust  to  the  original  holders  of 
these  certificates  who  had  received  them  in  payment  for  sup 
plies  furnished  to  the  Revolutionary  armies,  or  for  services 
rendered  to  the  country  at  the  time  of  its  greatest  need. 
Madison  suggested  that  the  present  holders  should  be  paid 
the  highest  market  price  for  their  certificates,  and  that  the 
difference  between  that  amount  and  the  face  value  of  the 
bonds  should  be  paid 
to  the  original  hold 
ers.       Hamilton    in-l 
sisted,  however,  that'1 
to  secure   the   credit' 
of    the    new   govern 
ment  it  was  essential 
that  the  full  face  value 
of     the     certificates 
should    be    paid    to 
those  who  possessed 
the  legal  title.     This 
was    sound    practical ; 
sense,     and     Hamil 
ton's  plan  was  adopt 
ed.    A  further  part  of  BtL^H  I    AssumPtion 
the  secretary's  scheme     •BoflHHBHHHHI    ofstate 

provided       that       the  Alexander  Hamilton  Schouler's 

United  States  should  United 

assume  and  fund,  as  a  part  of  its  own  debt,  certain-  IXQF-  stafes>  I« 

149—152. 
tions  of  the  debts  of  the  several  states.     On  this  question, 

however,  the  interests  of  the  North  and  of  the  South  were 
different,  as,  for  one  reason  or  another,  the  Northern  states 
were  burdened  with  much  larger  debts  than  were  the 
Southern  states.  The  measure  commended  itself  to  Ham 
ilton  and  to  those  who  thought  with  him,  because  its  car 
rying  out  would  interest  a  large  number  of  persons  in  the 
stability  of  the  new  government,  and  would  compel  the 
United  States  to  exercise  extensive  powers  of  taxation;  but 
this  centralization  of  power  was  disliked  by.  those  who 


268 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§196 


Site  of  the 

federal 

capital. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

IS2-I54. 


viewed  with  jealousy  the  subordination  of  the  states  to 
the  federal  government.  North  Carolina  ratified  the 
Constitution  in  November,  1789,  her  representatives  took 
their  seats  in  Congress  in  time  to  vote  against  the  proj 
ect,  and  it  was  defeated  by  a  small  majority  (April, 
1790).  The  issue  now  became  bound  up  with  the  de 
cision  of  another  question, —  the  permanent  seat  of  the 
national  capital. 

196.  The  National  Capital  and  Assumption.  —  Toward 
the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  three  hundred  Pennsyl 
vania  soldiers  had  surrounded  the  building  in  which  Con 
gress  held  its  sessions,  and  demanded  the  immediate  redress 
of  their  grievances.  The  executive  council  of  Pennsylvania 
was  appealed  to,  and  declined  to  interfere  to  protect  Con 
gress  from  annoyance.  It  was  largely  owing  to  this  that 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  inserted  a  provision  in  that 
instrument  which  'gave  the  federal  government  complete 
control  over  a  district  ten  miles  square,  within  which  a 
national  capitol  and  other  buildings  might  be  erected. 
The  question  of  the  precise  location  of  this  small  district 
does  not  appear  to  be  a  matter  of  much  importance  in  these 
days  of  rapid  transit.  In  1790,  however,  the  Potomac  was, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  far  from  Boston  as  San  Fran 
cisco  is  nowadays  and  Philadelphia  was  much  more  inac 
cessible  to  the  South  Carolinian  than  Denver  is  at  the 
present  time.  The  Southern  members  of  Congress  were 
anxious  to  have  the  permanent  seat  of  government  on  the 
Potomac,  and  the  Pennsylvanians  were  equally  desirous 
that  Philadelphia  should  be  the  temporary  seat  of  govern 
ment  while  the  necessary  buildings  were  in  the  process  of 
construction  on  the  Potomac.  Many  Northern  members, 
who  had  slight  interest  in  this  matter,  were  deeply  con 
cerned  in  the  success  of  the  project  of  assumption  of  the 
state  debts;  they  believed  that  the  Pennsylvanians,  who 
had  voted  against  the  latter  measure,  had  made  a  bargain 
of  some  kind  with  the  Southerners.  The  friends  of  assump 
tion,  therefore,  procured  the  insertion  of  Baltimore  instead 


1790] 


The  First  Slavery  Debates 


269 


of  Philadelphia  as  the  site  of  the  temporary  capital,  and 
this  bill  came  to  a  sudden  stop. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Jefferson  lent  his  aid  to  the  suc 
cessful  prosecution  of  a  scheme,  the  recollection  of  which 
annoyed  him  ever  after:  he  yielded  to  a  suggestion  of 
Hamilton's  that  they  should  bring  about  a  compromise, 
and  induced  enough  Southern  members  to  vote  for  assump 
tion  to  carry  that  measure,  while  Hamilton,  on  his  part, 
procured  enough  Northern  votes  to  pass  the  Potomac- 
Philadelphia  bill.  The  Assumption  Act,  in  its  final  form, 
was  a  much  less  satisfactory  measure  than  Hamilton's  orig 
inal  plan.  The  latter  had  provided  for  the  assumption  of 
balances  of  the  debt  of  each  state  after  the  sum  due  by  the 
states  to  the  United  States  had  been  ascertained;  the  law,  as 
passed,  provided,  however,  for  the  assumption  of  a  certain 
part  of  state  debts  mentioned  in  the  act;  in  some  cases 
it  turned  out  that  the  amount  thus  assumed  was  much  too 
large. 

197.  The  First  Slavery  Debates,  1789,  1790.  — The  years 
between  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and  the  forma 
tion  of  the  government  under  the  Constitution  saw  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  several  Northern  states  and  the 
formation  of  plans  for  .gradual  emancipation  in  others  (p. 
227);  it  may  truthfully  be  said  that  the  Northerners  were 
opposed  to  the  perpetuation  of  slavery,  although  it  should 
also  be  stated  that  the  intensity  of  this  feeling  varied  greatly 
in  different  parts  of  the  North.  Many  of  the  leaders  of 
Virginia  —  as  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Mason  —  shared 
in  this  opinion.  South  of  the  Old  Dominion,  the  case  was 
widely  different.  The  South  Carolinians  had  threatened 
to  stay  out  of  the  Union  unless  their  demands  as  to  slavery 
and  the  slave  trade  were  complied  with  (p.  239),  and  the 
North  Carolinians,  in  ceding  their  claims  to  western  lands 
to  the  United  States  (1790),  stipulated  that  Congress  should 
make  no  laws  affecting  slavery  in  the  territory  thus  ceded. 

The  first  slavery  debate  in  Congress  arose  on  the  motion 
of  a  representative  from  Virginia  that  the  constitutional  tax 


Hamilton's 

compromise. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

IS4-I56. 


Slavery 

debates, 

1789-90. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

156-163. 


Proposal  to 
tax  imported 
slaves,  1789. 


270  The  Federalist  Supremacy  [§  197 

of  ten  dollars  per  head  should  be  levied  on  all  slaves 
imported  into  the  country.  The  representatives  of  the 
states  farther  south  defended  slavery  in  the  abstract,  and 
accused  the  Virginians  of  selfishness  in  advocating  the  pro 
posed  tax,  the  effect  of  which  would  be  to  raise  the  price 
of  Virginia  slaves,  as  they  would  be  in  demand  in  the  South 
and  would  be  purchased  of  the  Virginians  by  the  Carolinian 
and  Georgian  planters.  The  proposal  was  dropped  at  that 
time  in  consideration  of  Southern  votes  for  the  protective 
tariff,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  tax  was  ever  levied  on 
slaves  imported. 
Antisiavery  The  next  year  the  question  again  came  before  Congress, 


petitions,  ^^  tjme  jn  a  form  much  more  objectionable  to  the  slave 
owners.  In  February,  1790,  memorials  were  presented 
from  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Friends  and 
from  the  Abolition  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  presi 
dent  was  Benjamin  Franklin.  These  petitioners  prayed 
Congress  to  use  its  constitutional  powers  to  "promote 
mercy  and  justice"  toward  the  negro,  and  to  "remove 
every  obstruction  to  public  righteousness,"  especially  in 
respect  to  slavery.  The  Southerners  assailed  the  memorial 
ists  with  immense  energy;  they  scented  danger  from  afar, 
and  the  matter  came  up  when  their  passions  were  thoroughly 
aroused  by  the  debates  on  assumption  and  on  the  site  of 
the  new  capital.  The  most  violent  of  the  Southern  spokes 
men  was  William  Jackson  of  Georgia,  an  immigrant  from 
England,  whose  vehemence  in  harangue  has  probably  never 
been  exceeded  in  American  deliberative  assemblies.  The 
MacDonaid's  House  referred  the  memorials  to  a  committee,  and  upon 
Documents,  their  repOrt  another  debate  occurred.  Ultimately  a  few 
very  mild  statements  were  entered  on  the  journal  of  the 
House;  among  them  was  a  declaration  to  the  effect  that 
Congress  had  no  authority  to  interfere  with  slavery  within 
the  states.  The  subject  was  then  dropped. 

First  Three  years  later  (1793)  the  slaveholders  secured  the 

siave1Vct         passage  of  an  act  to  carry  out  the  provision  of  the  Consti- 
1793!  a°  '        tution  (Art.  iv)  that  persons  "  held  to  service  or  labor  in 


1791]  The  Excise  and  the  Bank  271 

one  state  .  .  .  escaping  into  another  .  .  .  shall  be  delivered 
up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor 
may  be  due."  Fugitive  slaves  had  already  been  restored 
to  their  masters ;  but  this,  act  aroused  the  resentment  of 
many  persons  in  the  North,  and  the  first  case  which  arose 
under  it  showed  how  difficult  it  is  to  carry  out  national 
laws  when  they  are  contrary  to  the  sentiment  of  the  peo 
ple  of  a  state.  In  this  instance,  Massachusetts,  where  the 
fugitives  were  found,  did  not  nullify  an  act  of  Congress  in 
public  meeting ;  but  it  proved  to  be  practically  impossible 
to  execute  an  undoubtedly  constitutional  law  within  her 
borders. 

In  1792  Kentucky  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  slave   Mason  and 
state ;  Vermont  had  been  admitted  as  a  free  state  the  year   p«on's  line 
before.     The  northern  boundary  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,   l 
from  the  Pennsylvania  line  to  the  Mississippi,  was  the  Ohio 
River,  which  in  this  way  served  as  a  boundary  between  the 
free  states  and  territories  of  the  North  and  the  slaveholding 
states  and  territories  of  the  South.     The  Ohio  forms  prac 
tically  a  continuation  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  ;  indeed, 
the  latter  term  was  frequently  used  to  designate  simply  the 
line  between  the  free  and  the  slave  states. 

198.    The  Excise  and  the  Bank,  1791.  —  The  third  and  The  Excise 
last  session  of  the  First  Congress  was  held  at  Philadelphia.   *nd  the 

Bank,  1791. 
Two  measures  then  passed  were  of  exceeding  interest :   a  Schouler's 

bill  for  raising  revenue  from  an  internal  revenue  tax  or  United 
excise,  and  a  bill  establishing  a  national  bank.  It  will  be  T  a**'  ' 
remembered  that  Hamilton  had  valued  the  plan  for  the 
assumption  of  state  debts  because  it  would  necessitate  the 
extension  of  the  government's  taxing  power  to  other  sources 
of  revenue  than  taxes  on  goods  imported  from  foreign  coun 
tries,  and  thus  would  bring  into  the  hands  of  the  federal 
government  the  great  sources  of  public  income.  When 
the  assumption  scheme  was  passed,  he  proposed  that  an 
excise  tax  of  twenty-five  cents  per  gallon  should  be  levied 
on  all  whiskey  manufactured  in  the  United  States.  This 
rate  was  very  low,  and  the  tax  would  not  bring  in  much 


272 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§19* 


First  Bank  of 
the  United 
States. 


Constitution 
ality  of  the 
measure. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
176-177 ; 
MacDon- 
ald's 

Documents, 
Nos.  9-11. 


revenue ;  but  its  enforcement  would  accustom  the  western 
frontiersmen  to  federal  taxation  and  to  the  presence  of 
federal  officials,  and  it  would  make  the  levying  of  heavier 
taxes  in  the  future  much  easier,  The  bill  was  stubbornly 
fought  in  the  House ;  it  was  passed  against  the  protests  of 
several  state  legislatures,  and  it  produced  a  rebellion, — 
the  Whiskey  Insurrection  of(j794v  Hamilton's  principal 
object  was  accomplished,  however';  the  federal  government 
had  exerted  its  powers  to  levy  internal  taxes  and  had  shown 
its  power  to  suppress  rebellion. 

Hamilton  had  long  favored  the  establishment  of  a  na 
tional  bank.  Indeed,  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  he  had 
written  to  Robert  Morris  proposing  such  an  institution  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  enlist  in  that  movement  the  influ 
ence  and  interest  of  men  of  means  and  position.  He  now 
laid  before  Congress  the  plan  of  a  national  bank,  resem 
bling  in  many  ways  the  Bank  of  England.  An  establish 
ment  of  this  description  would  make  easier  the  collection 
and  disbursement  of  the  public  funds.  He  therefore  main 
tained  that  it  would  be  constitutional  under  the  clause 
which  authorized  Congress  "  to  make  all  laws  which  shall 
be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
foregoing  powers,"  among  which  was  the  power  "  to  lay 

and    collect    taxes  .  .  . 

to  Pay  the  debts"  of- 

the  federal  government. 

This  view  of  the  force 
of  the  words  "necessary  and  proper"  was  disputed  in 
Congress,  especially  by  Madison.  When  the  bill  came  be 
fore  Washington  for  his  approval,  he  asked  the  written 
opinions  of  his  advisers.  Jefferson  argued  that  the  power 
to  charter  a  bank  was  nowhere  granted  to  Congress  by  the 
Constitution,  and  that,  according  to  the  Tenth  Amendment 
(p.  240),  all  powers  not  delegated  to  the  national  govern 
ment  were  reserved  to  the  states  or  to  the  people.  This 
opinion  and  that  of  Hamilton  are  well  worth  reading,  as 
they  give  an  admirable  idea  of  the  two  modes  of  interpreting 


I791!  Rise  of  the  Republican  Party  273 

the  Constitution.  After  some  hesitation,  Washington  ap 
proved  the  bill,  and  twenty-five  years  afterward  Madison, 
as  President,  signed  a  similar  bill..  The  capital  of  the  new 
bank  thus  brought  into  existence  was  ten  millions,  and  was 
all  subscribed  for  within  twojiours.  Two  parties  had  been 
formed  in  the  cabinet,  however,  and  from  this  time  on, 
Jefferson  and  Hamilton,  to  use  the  words  of  the  former, 
were  "pitted  against  each  other  every  day  in  the  cabinet, 
like  two  fighting  cocks."  Jefferson  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  elements  of  opposition,  and  with  marvelous 
skill  welded  them  into  a  powerful  party,  ff 

199.    Rise  of  the  Republican   Party. — Jefferson   main-   Jefferson 
tained  that  Hamilton  had  under  his  orders  in  Congress  "a  founds. 
corrupt  squadron  "  of  members,  who  were  willing  to  do  his  party, 
bidding  and  were  well  paid  for  their  complacency.     There  Schouier's 

were  also  dark  stories  in  circulation  of  swift  sailing  vessels    United 

States,  I, 
dispatched  by  Hamilton's  friends  to  Southern  ports,  bear-   217-233, 

ing  agents  who  bought  up  the  certificates  of  indebtedness  at  234-237- 
a  low  rate,  before  the  news  of  the  funding  of  the  debt  could 
reach  those  far-off  regions.  Whether  these  stories  were 
true  or  false,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  shrewd  men 
of  business  in  the  North,  who  were  mostly  of  Hamilton's 
party,  made  large  profits  out  of  the  funding  operations, 
at  the  expense,  to  a  considerable  extent,  of  the  Southern 
people. 

The  financial  measures  of  the  new  government  were  very  Distrust  of 
successful,  and  their  success  alarmed  and  irritated  many  thes°v- 

»       .j       T   «  mi  nil  •  eminent. 

persons  besides  Jefferson.  They  all  led  to  a  great  increase 
in  the  power  of  the  central  government  and  to  a  correspond 
ing  diminution  in  the  power  of  the  state  governments. 
The  latter  organizations  were  familiar  to  the  great  mass  of 
the  people,  who  understood  little  of  the  problems  of  finance, 
which  had  been  so  admirably  solved  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  They  felt  a  distrust  toward  the  growing  power 
of  the  federal  government,  and  were  disposed  to  insist  on 
an  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  which  should  be  favor 
able  to  the  continued  authority  of  the  states. 


274 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§  200 


The  party 
press. 


Influence  of 
the  French 
Revolution 
on  America. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
262-279. 


Jefferson,  personally,  was  not  opposed  to  the  existence  of 
a  strong  national  government;  as  President,  he  certainly 
never  hesitated  to  use  whatever  powers  the  Constitution 
could  be  construed  to  give  him,  and  some  powers,  indeed, 
which  no  construction  could  read  into  that  document 
(p.  315);  but  he  objected  strenuously  to  the  exercise  of 
those  functions  by  Hamilton  and  his  allies.  With  his  love 
of  individual  liberty,  he  saw  the  government  every  day 
trenching  more  and  more  on  the  rights  of  the  individual. 
He  thought  he  saw  a  determination  to  build  up  a  strong  gov 
ernment  resembling  a  monarchy,  if  not  a  monarchy  itself. 
He  lost  no  opportunity  to  bring  the  charge  of  monarchical 
tendencies  home  to  his  opponents;  for  himself,  he  stood 
for  republican  principles,  and  the  party  which  gathered 
about  him  gradually  assumed  the  name  of  Republican. 
Hamilton  and  his  followers  continued  to  bear  the  desig 
nation —  so  ill  befitting  them  —  of  Federalists, —  a  name 
which  had  proved  powerful  in  the  struggle  for  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  Constitution. 

Jefferson  was  the  first  to  recognize  the  power  to  be  exer 
cised  by  the  newspaper  press.  Through  his  influence  was 
established  the  National  Gazette,  edited  by  Philip  Freneau, 
a  literary  man  of  ability,  who  occupied  the  position  of 
clerk  in  Jefferson's  department.  A  furious  attack  was  at 
once  begun  on  Hamilton  and  the  Federalists,  in  which  even 
Washington  was  not  spared.  Their  defense  was  feebly 
essayed  by  the  Gazette  of  the  United  States. 

200.  The  Neutrality  Proclamation,  1793.  —  On  the  first 
day  of  February,  i_7o^  the  French  Republic  declared 
war  against  Great  Britain,  and  began  a  conflict  full  of 
danger  to  the  United  States  as  well  as  to  the  people  of 
Europe.  Indeed,  from  this  time  until  1823,  the  history 
of  the  United  States  was  largely  influenced  by  the  course 
of  events  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  at  times  it 
may  even  be  said  to  have  been  dominated  by  European 
political  complications.  Jefferson  had  been  United  States 
minister  at  Paris  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution; 


*793]  The  Neutrality  Proclamation  275 

he  had  left  France  almost  immediately  afterward,  and  had 
therefore  been  personally  acquainted  with  the  French  Revo 
lution  only  in  its  earlier  and  better  period.  He  sympa 
thized  with  the  efforts  made  by  the  French  revolutionary 
leaders  to  exalt  the  rights  of  the  individual  as  against 
the  control  of  government;  that  was  precisely  what  he  was 
laboring  to  bring  about  in  America.  Hamilton,  on  the 
other  hand,  distrusted  the  people,  hated  democracy,  and 
had  no  sympathy  for  France.  The  cabinet  was  there 
fore  divided  on  this  question  as  well  as  on  others,  and 
for  precisely  the  same  reasons.  This  was  the  more  unfor 
tunate  as  the  position  of  the  government  was  full  of  peril. 
The  Treaty  of  Alliance  with  France  (p.  190)  provided  that 
each  party  should  guarantee  to  the  other  its  territorial 
possessions  in  America.  According  to  the  letter  of  the 
treaty,  therefore,  the  United  States  was  bound  to  defend 
the  French  West  India  Islands  against  British  attacks. 
Washington  laid  the  case  before  his  advisers  and  asked 
whether  the  treaty  was  still  in  force,  in  view  of  the  over 
throw  and  execution  of  the  French  monarch  with  whom  it 
had  been  made.  Jefferson  replied  that  it  was  still  in  force. 
According  to  the  political  theories  contained  in  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  which  form  the  basis  of  the  American 
political  system,  the  government  of  a  country  is  merely  the 
instrument  by  which  the  sovereign  power,  the  people,  car 
ries  on  its  affairs.  Bearing  this  in  mind,  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  he  could  have  given  any  other  answer.  To  Ham 
ilton,  however,  to  whom  governments  were  everything 
and  the  people  nothing,  the  case  seemed  to  be  equally 
clear  on  the  other  side.  Political  expediency,  nay,  the 
existence  of  the  United  States,  demanded  that  she  should 
not  take  sides  in  the  tremendous  conflict  now  approaching.  The 
Recognizing  this,  Washington  decided  to  issue  a  procla-  Neutrality 
mation  of  neutrality  defining  the  position  of  the  United  1101^1793" 
States,  and  warning  all  American  citizens  against  commit-  MacDonaid's 
ting  hostile  acts  in  favor  of  either  side  (April  22,  1793).  &™u™enfs. 
This  proclamation  is  of  the  very  greatest  importance  in  the 


276 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§20I 


Genet  in 
the  United 

States. 


Controversy 
with  Great 
Britain, 
I783-93- 


history  of  the  country,  as  it  was  then  first  definitely  laid 
down  as  a  policy  that  the  United  States  was  to  hold  apart 
from  the  wars  and  politics  of  Europe.  It  proved  to  be  very 
difficult  to  carry  out  in  practice,  and  the  difficulty  was  not 
in  any  way  lessened  by  the  conduct  of  the  French  agent  in 
the  United  States,  the  "  Citizen  Genet." 

Genet  landed  at  Charleston  on  April  8  and  at  once  began 
to  fit  out  warlike  expeditions,  as  if  the  United  States  were 
French  soil  :  he  armed  privateers,  commissioned  them,  and 
directed  their  masters  to  send  prizes  into  United  States 
ports  for  condemnation.  He  then  set  out  for  Philadelphia, 
and  his  journey  resembled  a  triumphal  progress.  Clubs 
were  formed  on  the  model  of  the  Jacobin  Club  of  Paris, 
and  extreme  democratic  ideas  were  zealously  cultivated. 
Fortunately,  however,  Genet  was  a  very  imprudent  man, 
and  soon  mixed  himself  up  in  actions  which  justified  the 
government  in  asking  for  his  recall.  This  request  was  at 
once  granted;  for  the  party  that  had  sent  him  to  America 
was  no  longer  in  power  in  France,  but  had  been  replaced 
by  a  much  more  radical  element.  Curiously  enough,  it 
does  not  appear  that  Genet,  or  Fauchet  his  successor,  called 
upon  the  government  to  fulfill  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  — 
a  demand  which  would  have  been  very  awkward  to  meet. 

The  Federalists  at  once  endeavored  to  disgrace  their 
opponents  by  calling  them  democrats;  and  the  Republi 
cans  charged  the  Federalists  with  leanings  toward  England, 
and  branded  them  as  the  British  party.  There  was  some 
truth  in  this  latter  contention,  as  the  Federalist  party 
was  strong  in  the  commercial  centers  of  the  North,  whose 
trade  was  mainly  with  Great  Britain.  Notwithstanding 
their  fierce  and  growing  dissensions,  Jefferson  and  Hamil 
ton  both  implored  Washington  to  serve  another  term  ;  he 
was  unanimously  re-elected,  and  John  Adams  again  became 
Vice-President  (1792). 

201.  Relations  with  Great  Britain ,  1 7  83-94 .  —  Th  e  treaty 
of  peace  of  1783  had  secured  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  and  had  given  it  adequate  boundaries ,;  but 


1794]  Relations  with  Great  Britain  277 

it  had  left  unsettled  many  weighty  questions,  and  some  of 
its  more  important  provisions  had  not  been  faithfully  ob 
served.  For  instance,  legal  obstacles  had  been  placed  in 
the  way  of  the  collection  of  debts  incurred  before  the  Revo 
lution  (p.  228),  and  Great  Britain  had  refused  to  surrender 
many  posts  in  the  northwest,  whose  retention  was  a 
standing  threat  to  the  settlers  in  that  region.  The  British 
had  also  taken  away  large  numbers  of  slaves  contrary  to 
the  treaty,  according  to  the  American  interpretation  of  it 
(p.  229).  The  controversy  had  reached  a  dangerous  point, 
where  slight  additional  irritation  on  either  side  might  easily 
lead  to  war ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  United  States  was 
now  in  a  position  to  enforce  its  treaty  obligations. 

Meantime,  the  war  between  France  and  Great  Britain  France, 
had  given  rise  to  another  cause  of  complaint.  In  May,  Great  Britain, 
1793,  the  French  ordered  the  capture  and  condemnation  of  Neutrals, 
neutral  vessels  carrying  provisions  to  British  ports,  on  the  1793. 
ground  that  provisions  were  contraband  of  war,  or  goods 
which  could  not  be  supplied  to  a  belligerent  except  at  the 
risk  of  seizure  by  the  other  belligerent.  The  British  gov 
ernment  soon  adopted  a  similar  policy.  In  those  days 
there  also  existed  an  agreement  between  the  leading  Euro 
pean  powers  to  the  effect  that  a  neutral  could  not  enjoy  in 
time  of  war  a  trade  which  was  prohibited  to  it  in  time  of 
peace.  This  was  called  the  Rule  of  War  of  1756,  or,  more 
briefly,  the  Rule  of  1756.  The  Americans  were  not  allowed 
to  trade  with  the  French  West  Indies  in  time  of  peace,  but 
as  soon  as  the  war  broke  out  those  ports  were  opened  to 
them.  In  November,  1793,  the  British  put  this  rule  in 
force  against  American  shipping.  As  the  Americans  were 
not  permitted  to  trade  with  the  British  West  Indies,  this 
action  practically  closed  the  commerce  of  that  region  to 
them.  With  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  another  and  even 
more  irritating  contention  arose  over  the  right  of  the  Brit 
ish  to  stop  American  vessels  on  the  high  seas  and  remove 
from  them  British  seamen  for  service  in  British  men-of- 
war;  the  more  serious  phase  of  this  impressment  contro- 


278 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§202 


Jay's  Treaty, 
1794. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  466- 

47t; 

Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
304-3I1- 


versy  will  be  considered  later  on  (p.  323).  Affairs  had 
reached  a  point  where  war  seemed  certain.  In  March, 
1794,  Congress  laid  an  embargo  for  thirty  days  on  shipping 
in  American  ports,  which  was  afterwards  extended  for  an 
other  thirty  days.  A  bill  was  also  brought  in  providing  for 
non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain,  and  was  defeated  in  the 
Senate  only  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  Vice-President.  A 
word  from  Washington,  and  the  nation  would  have  cheer 
fully  plunged  into  war. 

202.    Jay's  Treaty,  1794. — Washington  determined  to 

make  one  more  effort  to 
settle  these  questions 
peaceably;  he  appointed 
John  Jay,  Chief  Justice 
of  the  United  States, 
minister  to  Great  Britain 
to  negotiate  a  new  treaty. 
Probably  a  better  choice 
could  not  have  been 
made.  Jay  had  had 
much  experience  in  dip 
lomatic  affairs,  was  a 
man  of  the  highest  hon 
esty,  and  one  of  the 
least  self-interested  men 
in  public  life.  After  a  long  and  difficult  negotiation, 
he  signed  a  treaty  (1794)  whose  publication  at  once 
aroused  fierce  animosity  in  the  United  States.  By  this 
instrument  the  British  government  agreed  to  turn  over  the 
posts  on  June  i,  1796;  joint  commissions  were  to  be 
appointed  to  settle  the  question  of  debts,  the  indemnity 
for  the  negroes  who  were  taken  away,  and  to  determine 
boundary  disputes  on  the  northeastern  frontier;  but  on  the 
questions  of  neutral  trade  and  impressment  the  British  gov 
ernment  would  not  yield.  The  most  objectionable  provi 
sion  of  the  treaty  was  the  twelfth  article.  This  opened  the 
ports  of  the  British  West  Indies  to  American  vessels,  pro- 


John  Jay 


1794] 


Ratification  of  Jay's   Treaty 


279 


vided  that  they  were  under  seventy  tons,  and  on  the  further 
condition  that  during  the  continuance  of  the  treaty  (twelve 
years)  the  United  States  would  not  export  molasses,  sugar, 
coffee,  cocoa,  or  cotton  to  any  part  of  the  world. 

203.  Ratification  of  Jay's  Treaty,  1795.  —  The  announce 
ment  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  was  the  signal  for  an  outburst 
of  indignation.  A  stuffed  figure  of  Jay  was  burned,  the  British 
flag  was  dragged  in 
the  dirt,  the  British 
minister  was  in 
sulted,  and  Wash 
ington  was  .abused 
in  language  that 
he  declared  "could 
scarcely  be  applied 
to  a  Nero,  to  a  no 
torious  defaulter,  or 
even  to  a  common 
pickpocket."  It  was 
only  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  the 
Senate  could  be  in 
duced  to  give  its 
consent  to  the  treaty 
without  the  twelfth 
article.  In  the  House 
of  Representatives 
there  was  also  a  fierce  conflict,  for  money  was  needed  to  carry 
out  the  provisions  of  the  treaty.  After  a  long  debate,  the 
House  passed  a  resolution  calling  on  the  President  for  the 
papers  relating  to  the  negotiation.  This  demand  Washington 
refused,  on  the  ground  that  the  House  of  Representatives 
was  not  a  part  of  the  treaty-making  power.  Finally,  the 
House  gave  way,  largely  in  consequence  of  pressure  brought 
to  bear  upon  Northern  members  by  their  constituents  in  the 
commercial  centers  of  the  North ;  and  by  a  vote  of  forty-eight 
to  forty-one  the  necessary  appropriation  bills  were  passed* 


Mrs.  John  Jay 


Controversy 
over  its 
i^tification. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 

323-329; 
Johnston's 
Orations,  I, 
84-130. 


280 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§204 


Controversy 
with  Spain, 

I783-95- 
Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  476. 


Treaty  of 
1795- 


Controversy 
with  France. 
Winsor's 
America, 

VII,  471: 

Schouler's 


The  best  that  can  be  said  of  Jay's  treaty  is  that  it  postponed 
the  second  war  with  Great  Britain  for  many  years.  The 
immediate  consequence  was  to  increase  the  feeling  of  dis 
satisfaction  with  the  Federalists.  Even  in  Virginia  Wash 
ington  lost  much  of  his  former  popularity;  the  legislature 
of  that  state  refused  to  pass  a  vote  of  undiminished  confi 
dence  in  its  greatest  son. 

204.  Relations  with  Spain  and  France,  1794-97.  —  Ac 
cording  to  the  treaties  of  1763  and  1783,  the  United  States 
enjoyed  the  right  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
(p.  209)  and  had  a  strong  claim  to  territory  as  far  south  as 
the  thirty-first  parallel  (p.  229).  It  proved  to  be  very 
difficult  to  secure  possession  of  the  land  bordering  on  the 
Mississippi  south  of  the  Yazoo,  as  the  Spaniards  contended 
that  Britain,  in  ceding  to  her  "the  Floridas,"  had  ceded 
them  with  the  boundaries  under  which  they  were  actually 
governed  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  occupation  (p.  229). 
The  Spaniards  also  intrigued  with  the  settlers  in  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee.  The  right  of  the  United  States  to  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  could  not  well  be  denied,  but 
the  free  navigation  of  the  great  river  was  of  slight  value 
unless  the  Americans  possessed  the  further  privilege  of 
using  some  portion  of  the  river's  banks  within  Spanish  terri 
tory  for  the  purpose  of  transferring  cargo  from  river-going 
craft  to  vessels  capable  of  navigating  the  ocean.  In  1795 
Thomas  Pinckney  negotiated  a  treaty  with  Spain,  by  which 
that  power  agreed  to  designate  "a  place  of  deposit "  within 
her  territory  where  goods  might  be  stored  free  of  duty  while 
awaiting  transshipment,  and  she  acknowledged  the  claim  of 
the  United  States  as  to  the  boundary  to  be  valid;  but  it 
was  several  years  before  the  posts  within  the  territory  thus 
conceded  were  handed  over  to  the  United  States.  With 
France  matters  did  not  proceed  so  satisfactorily. 

The  French  government  was  greatly  exasperated  by  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  as  war  between 
that  power  and  the  United  States  was  thereby  made  improb 
able.  The  American. minister  at  Paris,  James  Monroe,  a 


1797]  Election  of  John  Adams  281 

Virginian  of  the  Jeffersonian  school,  instead  of  doing  his    United 


utmost  to  smooth  away  these  feelings  of  resentment,  seems 

to  have  shared  them   himself;    he  also  made  no  attempt 

to  press  the 

claims       of 

America  for 

damages  for 

the  unjustifiable  seizure  of  vessels  by  the  French.     Wash 

ington  recalled   him,  and    sent    in   his  place  Charles  C. 

Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  whom  the  French  government 

refused  to  receive  (February,  1797). 

205.  Washington's  Farewell  Address,  1797.  —  Toward  the   Wash- 
close  of  his  second  term,  Washington  decided  to  retire  from   inston's 

,  .  ,  i   i         i      i  •     •  i  T  i  retirement. 

the  presidency,  and  by  declining  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-    old  South 
election,  set  a  precedent  which  has  ever  since  been  followed.    Leaflets,  Gen. 
He  announced  this  determination  in  a  masterly  Farewell   cer^N°'4'^ 

J  btedman  and 

Address,  which  is  still  full  of  instruction  for  the  American    Hutchinson, 
people.    He  earnestly  besought  his  countrymen  to  foster  the   m«  l62- 
government  recently  established  and  to  preserve  the  public 
credit.    As  to  the  outer  world,  he  wished  his  fellow-citizens 
first  of  all  to  be  Americans,  and  to  avoid  taking  sides  with 
foreign  nations  :  "  It  is  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  per 
manent  alliances  with  any  portion  of  the  foreign  world.  .  .  . 
I  hold  the  maxim  no  less  applicable  to  public  than  to  pri 
vate  affairs,  that  honesty  is  always  the  best  policy.   .   .   . 

"  Harmony  and  a  liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations  are 
recommended  by  policy,  humanity,  and  interest." 

206.  Election  of  John  Adams,   1796.  —  The   choice    of   Election  of 

Washington's  successor  proved   to   be   a  matter  of   some   J7?6- 
,  .  ,.,.      .  T    f,  bcnouler  s 

difficulty.     Jefferson  was  the  undoubted  leader  of  the  Re-    United 
publicans,  and  he  became  their  candidate.     There  was  no   states,  1,342, 
such  unanimity  of  opinion  among  the  Federalists:  Hamil- 
ton  was  the  real  leader  of  the  party,  but  he  was  very  unpopu-   Elections, 
lar  and  could  not  possibly  have  been  elected;  John  Jay  24~29- 
would    have    been    Hamilton's   choice    for    the    place,   but 
his     connection     with     the     negotiation     of    Jay's     treaty     v 
made    him  an   impossible   candidate.     Under  the  circum- 


282 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§206 


stances,  John  Adams  was  the  only  candidate  whom  the 
Federalists  could  put  forward  with  a  fair  chance  of  success. 
But  Hamilton  sought  by  an  unworthy  political  trick  to 
secure  the  election  to  the  first  place  of  Thomas  Pinckney, 
the  nominal  candidate  for  the  vice-presidency.  Adams 
was  popular  with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Federalist 

party,  although  he  was 
disliked  by  some  of  the 
leaders.  The  result  was 
that  to  insure  the  choice  of 
Adams,  a  number  of  Fed 
eralist  electors  threw  away 
their  second  votes,  and  thus- 
brought  about  the  election 
of  Jefferson  to  the  second 
place  instead  of  Pinck 
ney.  Jefferson,  indeed, 
showed  the  most  unex 
pected  strength,  and  Adams 
was  chosen  President  by 
three  votes  only  over  his 
Republican  rival,  —  the 
votes  being  seventy-one  for 
Adams  and  sixty-eight  for 
Jefferson.  The  Federalists 

Election  of  1796 

kept  control  of  the  Senate, 

but  the  moderate  Republicans  held  the  balance  of  power 
in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Adams,  at  the  outset  of  his  administration,  made  the 
fatal  blunder  of  retaining  Washington's  official  advisers  in 
office.  Hamilton  had  long  since  retired  from  the  cabinet, 
and  the  heads  of  departments  were  men  of  fair  abilities 
only,  and  could  easily  have  been  replaced.  They  regarded 
Hamilton  as  their  chief  and  intrigued  against  Adams  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  term  of  office.  Beset  by 
these  difficulties  at  home,  Adams  had  a  most  arduous  task 
in  the  settlement  of  the.  troubles  with  France, 


Federalist, 
Adams. 


1797] 


Breach  with  France 


207.  Breach  with  France,  1796-99.  —  The  new  President 
had  scarcely  assumed  office  when  news  arrived  that  Pinck- 
ney  had  been  sent  away  from  Paris.  Adams  determined, 
however,  to  make  another  effort  to  renew  friendly  relations 
with  the  former  ally  of  America.  He  appointed  a  com 
mission,  consisting  of  Elbridge  Gerry,  a  Massachusetts 
Republican,  John  Marshall,  a  Virginia  Federalist,  and 
Charles  C.  Pinckney,  the  rejected  minister,  to  go  to  France 
and  endeavor  to  preserve  peace  with  the  French  Republic, 
now  under  the  government  of  the  Directory.  The  commis 
sioners  met  with  a  most  extraordinary  reception  at  Paris 
(October,  1797).  Agents  came  to  them  whose  names  were 
disguised  in  the  dispatches  under  the  letters  X,  Y,  and  Z. 
They  demanded  money  as  the  price  of  receiving  the  Ameri 
cans.  This  was  refused,  and  the  commissioners  were 
directed  to  leave  France.  An  attempt  was  made,  however, 
to  negotiate  separately  with  Gerry,  who  was  regarded  as 
representing  the  Jeffersonian  party.  News  traveled  slowly 
in  those  days,  and  it  was  March,  1798,  before  Adams  com 
municated  to  Congress  the  failure  of  this  ill-starred  commis 
sion.  In  June  the  President  closed  a  message  to  Congress 
with  the  assertion  that  he  would  "  never  send  another  min 
ister  to  France  without  assurances  that  he  would  be  received, 
respected,  and  honored  as  the  representative  of  a  great,  free, 
powerful,  and  independent  nation." 

Instantly,  there  was  a  change  of  feeling  in  Congress. 
The  Federalists  gained  control  of  both  houses,  and  pushed 
forward  preparations  for  defense.  A  new  army  organiza 
tion  was  begun,  with  Washington  in  nominal  command; 
but  the  real  direction  of  military  affairs  was  intrusted  to 
Hamilton,  who  was  forced  on  the  President  by  Washington 
as  the  price  of  his  own  co-operation.  The  building  of  a 
navy,  which  had  already  been  begun  during  recent  disputes 
with  the  piratical  states  of  northern  Africa,  was  now 
pushed  on  with  vigor.  Many  of  the  new  vessels'  did 
excellent  service.  In  their  home  policy,  however,  the 
Federalists  committed  grave  blunders. 


Commis 
sioners  sent 
to  France, 
1797. 

Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
358-367. 


The  X,  Y,  Z 

affair. 

Winsor's 

America, 

VII,  472; 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

385-398. 


Preparations 
for  war. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
415-422. 


Maclay's 
Navy,  I, 
155-213. 


284 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§208 


Restrictive 

legislation, 

1798. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

404-410 ; 

American 

History 

Leaflets, 

No.  15. 


208.  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  1798. — These  acts  were 
the  outcome  of  an  exaggerated  fear  of  the  Republicans  on 
the  part  of  the  Federalists;  even  Washington,  who  was  now 
a  strict  party  man,  whatever  he  may  have  been  in  his  earlier 
years,  proposed  to  prevent  Republicans  from  joining  the 
army  of  which  he  was  the  head.  The  first  law  against 

aliens  was  the  Natu 
ralization  Act  (June 
1 8,  i798)>  raising 
the  period  of  resi 
dence  preliminary  to 
naturalization  from 
five  to  fourteen  years. 
The  second  law  (June 
25,  1798),  which  is 
usually  cited  as  the 
Alien  Act,  authorized 
the  President  to 
order  any  aliens  "he 
shall  judge  danger 
ous  to  the  peace 
and  safety  of  the 
United  States,  or 
shall  have  reasonable 
grounds  to  suspect 
are  concerned  in  any 
treasonable  or  secret 
machinations  against 
the  government  thereof,  to  depart  out  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States";  or  he  might,  at  his  discretion,  grant  an  alien 
a  "  license  to  ...  remain  within  the  United  States  for  such 
time  as  he  shall  judge  proper,  and  at  such  place  as  he  may 
designate,"  under  such  bonds  as  he  may  think  fit,  and  he 
might  revoke  the  license  at  any  time.  An  alien  returning 
could  be  "  imprisoned  so  long  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Presi 
dent,  the  public  safety  may  require. "  The  third  law  directed 
against  aliens,  which  is  generally  cited  as  the  Second  Alien 


Mrs.  John  Adams 


1798] 


Alien  and  Sedition  Acts 


285 


Act,  authorized  the  President  in  time  of  war  "to  arrest, 
restrain,  secure,  and  remove  as  alien  enemies  all  natives 
or  subjects  of  such  hostile  nation  or  government  as  are  not 
actually  naturalized."  The  Sedition  Act  (July  14,  1798) 
made  it  a  crime  punishable  "  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  five 
thousand  dollars  and  by  imprisonment  during  a  term  of  not 
less  than  six  months 
nor  exceeding  five 
years "  for  any  per 
sons  to  "unlawfully 
combine "  with  in 
tent  to  oppose  any 
measure  of  the  gov 
ernment  or  to  im 
pede  the  operation 
of  any  law,  or  to  in 
timidate  any  govern 
ment  official.  Fur 
thermore,  any  person 
who  should  write, 
print,  utter,  or  pub 
lish  anything,  or 
cause  anything  to  be 
so  written  or  uttered, 
with  intent  to  defame 
the  government  of 
the  United  States, 
or  to  excite  unlawful 

combinations,  should  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceed 
ing  two  thousand  dollars  and  by  imprisonment  not  ex 
ceeding  two  years.  The  Alien  Act  was  to  be  in  force  for 
two  years  and  the  Sedition  Act  until  March  3,  1801,  the 
end  of  Adams's  term.  These  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  were 
modeled  on  similar  laws  which  had  recently  been  passed 
in  England,  and,  with  the  Naturalization  Act,  were  aimed 
principally  against  the  Republican  politicians  and  news 
paper  writers,  many  of  whom  were  foreigners.  These  laws 


John  Adams,  after  a  painting  by  Stuart 


286 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§209 


Effects  of 
these  laws. 


Kentucky 

Resolutions, 

1798. 

American 

History 

Leaflets, 

No.  15 ; 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

433-436. 


were  opposed  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  the  Re 
publicans,  ably  led  by  Albert  Gallatin,  an  immigrant  from 
Switzerland;  but  their  opposition  was  unavailing.  Adams 
seems  to  have  taken  slight  interest  in  the  matter;  he  never 
acted  under  the  alien  acts,  but  they  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  entirely  inoperative,  as  two  or  three  "shiploads"  of 
aliens  left  the  country  rather  than  incur  the  risk  of  remain 
ing.  The  Sedition  Act  was  put  into  force  several  times, 
notably  against  Callender,  a  Republican  newspaper  editor. 
-Every  prosecution  under  the  act  was  given  the  greatest 
publicity  by  the  Republicans  and  lost  hundreds,  if  not  thou 
sands,  of  votes  to  the  Federalists.  Jefferson  also  adopted 
the  old  revolutionary  expedient  of  legislative  resolves,  in 
order  to  bring  the  harsh  measures  of  the  Federalists  promi 
nently  before  the  people. 

*  209.  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions,  1798,  1799. — 
The  Kentucky  Resolutions,  which  were  the  first  to  be 
adopted,  were  introduced  into  the  legislature  of  that  state 
by  Mr.  Breckinridge;  their  real  author,  however,  was  Jeffer 
son.  His  original  draft  contained  the  logical  conclusions 
from  the  premises  of  the  argument  which  went  beyond 
what  the  Kentucky  legislators  were  ready  to  place  on  record 
in  1798.  In  1799,  however,  they  had  reached  the  neces 
sary  pitch  of  indignation  to  adopt  the  whole  of  Jefferson's 
argument.  There  are  other  differences  between  Jefferson's 
draft  and  the  resolutions  as  voted  either  in  1798  or  1799. 
It  will  be  convenient  to  consider  the  two  sets  as  one,  and 
to  note  one  or  two  of  the  changes  from  the  original  writing. 
The  Resolutions  of  1798  open  with  the  statement  "that  the 
several  states  composing  the  United  States  of  America  are 
not  united  on  the  principle  of  unlimited  submission  to  their 
general  government;  but  that  by  compact  under  the  style 
and  ti$le  of  a  constitution  .  .  .  they  [i]  constituted  a 
general  government  for  special  purposes,  delegated  to  that 
government  certain  definite  powers  .  .  . ;  and  that  whereso 
ever  the  general  government  assumes  undelegated  powers, 
its  acts  are  unauthoritative,  void,  and  are  of  no  force: 


i798l         Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions          287 


[2]  That  to  this  compact  each  state  acceded  as  a  state, 
and  is  an  integral  party,  its  co-states  forming  as  to  itself, 
the  other  party  ...  [3]  that  as  in  all  other  cases  of  com 
pact  among  parties  having  no  common  judge,  each  party 
has  a  right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  infractions  as  of 
the  mode  and  measure  of  redress."  The  Resolutions  then 
proceed  to  state  that  the  acts  enumerated  in  the  preceding 
section  arid  an  act  to  punish  frauds  committed  on  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  which  was  passed  in  June,  1798,  are 
altogether  void  and  of  no  force,  as  they  were  contrary  to 
the  Constitution  and  the  amendments. 

Jefferson's  original  draft  had  contained  the  further  state 
ment  "  that  every  state  has  a  natural  right  in  a  case  not 
within  the  compact  (casus  nonfoederis)  to  nullify  of  their 
own  authority  all  assumptions  of  power  by  others  within 
their  limits."  This  statement  was  omitted  from  the  Reso 
lutions  of  1798;  it  appears  in  those  of  1799  in  an  even 
stronger  form :  "  That  the  several  states  who  formed  that 
instrument  [the  Constitution]  being  sovereign  and  inde 
pendent,  have  the  unquestionable  right  to  judge  of  the 
infraction  [of  that  instrument] ;  and  that  a  nullification,  by 
those  sovereignties,  of  all  unauthorized  acts  done  under  color 
of  that  instrument,  is  the  rightful  remedy -." 

The  Virginia  Resolutions  were  drawn  by  Madison  and 
were  much  milder  in  tone.  They  termed  the  Constitution, 
however,  "a  compact,"  and  called  upon  the  other  states  to 
join  with  Virginia  in  declaring  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts 
unconstitutional.  These  Resolutions  and  the  Kentucky 
Resolutions  of  1798  were  communicated  to  the  other  states. 
They  evoked  strong  condemnation  from  the  legislatures  of 
the  Northern  states  and  received  no  support  from  those 
of  the  Southern  states.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  remedy 
Jefferson  and  Madison  desired  to  see  adopted;  probably 
nothing  more  than  a  new  constitutional  convention;  cer 
tainly  they  had  no  desire  to  see  the  Union  dissolved,  and 
in  all  probability  wished  to  do  nothing  more  than  to  place 
the  compact  theory  of  the  Constitution  before  the  people 


Kentucky 

Resolutions 

of  1799. 

American 

History 

Leaflets, 

No.  15. 


Virginia 

Resolutions, 

1798. 

American 

History 

Leaflets, 

No.  15. 


288 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§2IO 


Hamilton's 
letter  to 
Dayton. 


in  a  clear  and  unmistakable  manner.  In  this  they  suc 
ceeded,  and  the  Resolutions  undoubtedly  did  much  to  turn 
the  current  of  public  opinion  against  the  authors  of  the 
Alien  and  Sedition  Acts. 

A  letter  which  Hamilton  wrote  to  Mr.  Dayton,  the 
Federalist  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
contains  an  enunciation  of  the  extreme  Federalist  view, 
and  may  be  regarded,  in  some  measure,  as  an  answer 
to  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions.  Its  author 
advocated  the  cutting  up  of  the  states  into  small  divi 
sions,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  number  and  power 
of  the  federal  courts.  He  also  suggested  the  adoption 
of  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  giving  Congress 
the  power  to  divide  the  larger  states  into  two  or  more 
states.  He  further  advised  the  retention  of  the  army  on 
its  present  footing,  even  if  peace  should  be  made  with 
France.  At  this  moment,  Adams  reopened  negotiations 
with  France,  and  by  concluding  a  treaty  with  that  country, 
put  an  abrupt  ending  to  the  dreams  of  Hamilton  and  his 
friends  and  widened  the  breach  in  the  Federalist  party 
beyond  possibility  of  repair. 

210.  Treaty  with  France,  1800.  —  The  publication  of  the 
X,  Y,  Z  correspondence  caused  great  excitement  among 
the  governing  circles  in  France.  Talleyrand,  who  had 
States,  i,  429.  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  intrigue,  saw  that  he  had  gone 
too  far,  and  tried  to  draw  back;  he  caused  a  message 
to  be  conveyed  to  Vans  Murray,  American  minister  to  the 
Netherlands,  that  if  the  United  States  would  send  another 
envoy  to  France,  he  would  be  "  received  as  the  represen 
tative  of  a  great,  free,  powerful,  and  independent  nation." 
Adams  grasped  eagerly  at  the  opportunity  to  bring  peace 
to  his  country.  Without  consulting  his  cabinet,  he  nomi 
nated  Vans  Murray  as  minister  to  France.  The  Federalist 
leaders  in  the  Senate,  amazed  at  this  change  of  front, 
seemed  determined  to  reject  the  nomination,  when  Adams 
substituted  a  commission  consisting  of  Oliver  Ellsworth, 
Jay's  successor  as  Chief  Justice,  Patrick  Henry,  and  Vans 


France 
draws  back. 
Schouler's 
United 


:8oo] 


Treaty  with  France 


289 


Murray;  and  these  nominations  were  confirmed.  Henry, 
now  old  and  infirm,  declined  to  serve,  and  William  R. 
Davie  of  North  Carolina,  another  Southern  Federalist,  was. 
appointed  in  his  stead.  Adams  also  seized  the  first  oppor 
tunity  to  dismiss  the  most  treacherous  of  his  advisers,  and 
substituted  John  Marshall  in  place  of  Timothy  Pickering 
as  Secretary  of  State. 
Napoleon  Bona 
parte,  as  First  Con 
sul,  was  now  at  the 
head  of  affairs  in 
France.  The  com 
missioners  were  well 
received,  and  a 
French  commission, 
at  the  head  of  which 
was  Joseph  Bona 
parte,  Napoleon's 
brother,  was  ap 
pointed  to  negotiate 
with  them.  In  many 
respects,  the  treaty 
thus  concluded  was 
satisfactory  to  both 
parties;  but  Napo 
leon  declined  to 

pay  for  American  property  seized  by  the  French  govern 
ment  or  by  its  agents  during  the  recent  troubles,  or  to 
consent  to  the  formal  abandonment  of  the  treaty  of  1778. 
These  subjects  were  reserved  for  future  negotiations.  The 
United  States  Senate  refused  to  ratify  this  part  of  the 
arrangement.  Ultimately,  it  was  agreed  that  the  United 
States  should  give  up  its  contention  as  to  the  payment  of 
claims,  and  Napoleon  consented  to  regard  the  treaty  of 
1778  as  no  longer  binding.  In  this  way,  by  the  action 
of  the  Senate,  the  United  States  became  bound,  at  least 
morally,  to  compensate  its  own  citizens  for  French  spolia- 


Timothy  Pickering 


Treaty  of 
1800. 

Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 

441-447, 
451-456,  488. 


The  French 

Spoliation 

Claims. 


290 


The  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§2II 


Presidential 

campaign 

of  1800. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  I, 

472-476, 

479-486 ; 

*Stanwood's 

Elections, 

3°-44- 


Hamilton's 
intrigues. 


tions  committed  prior  to  1800,  which  were  thus  bartered 
away  for  the  final  renunciation  of  the  treaty  of  1778  with 
its  formidable  guarantee  of  the  French  West  India  posses 
sions.  It  is  only  within  recent  years,  however,  when  legal 
proof  has  become  almost  impossible,  that  Congress  has  con 
sented  to  pay  these  "  French  spoliation  claims." 

211.  The  Election  of  1 800 . 
—  The  presidential  election 
of  1 800  was  fought  with  great 
vigor  and  with  great  bitter 
ness  of  language  and  temper. 
John  Adams,  by  his  honest 
and  patriotic  policy,  had 
saved  the  country  from  a 
disastrous  war,  and  had 
deeply  offended  the  leaders 
of  the  Federalist  party.  He 
was  still  popular  with  the  peo 
ple,  who  recognized  his  fear 
less  honesty  and  remembered 
his  great  services  during  the 
Revolution.  He  became 
the  Federalist  candidate  for 
the  presidency  because  there 
was  no  one  else  to  nominate 
with  any  chance  of  suc 
cess.  Hamilton,  instead  of  accepting  his  candidacy  with 
good  grace  and  supporting  the  party  candidate  with  all 
his  strength  and  influence,  embarked  on  a  course  of  petty 
intrigue,  similar  to  the  intrigues  of  1788  and  1796,  which 
have  been  already  described  (pp.  259,  282).  Charles 
Cotesworth  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina  was  the  Federalist 
candidate  for  second  place.  It  was  proposed  that  the 
South  Carolina  electors  should  vote  for  Pinckney  and  Jeffer 
son,  in  the  expectation  that  the  votes  thus  withdrawn  from 
Adams  and  given  to  Jefferson  would  return  Adams  to 
second  place  and  bring  in  Pinckney  as  President.  The 


Federalist, 
Adams. 


Election  of  1800 


i8oo]  The  Election  of  1800  291 

latter  honorably  refused  to  be  a  party  to  such  a  transac 
tion.  Hamilton  also  sought  to  discredit  Adams  by  writing  - 
a  long  dissertation  to  show  his  unfitness  for  the  office  of 
chief  magistrate.  This  paper  was  based  on  information 
furnished  by  Oliver  Wolcott,  who  had  succeeded  Hamilton 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  Republicans  obtained 
a  copy  and  gave  it  the  widest  publication.  The  Federalists 
were  probably  doomed  to  failure,  as  the  heavy  taxes  made- 
necessary  by  the  preparations  for  war,  and  the  hatred  which 
the  prosecutions  under  the  Sedition  Act  had  aroused,  had 
converted  thousands  to  the  Republican  side.  That  party 
was  now  thoroughly  organized  by  Jefferson  and  the  other 
leaders,  especially  Aaron  Burr,  a  disreputable  politician, 
who  had  been  nominated  for  the  vice-presidency  because 
he  controlled  the  votes  of  New  York.  When  the  electoral 
ballots  were  counted,  it  was  found  that  Jefferson  and  Burr 
had  each  received  seventy-three  votes ;  Adams,  sixty-five ; 
and  Pinckney,  sixty-four.  As  the  Constitution  then  stood, 
the  electors  did  not  state  their  preference  for  President, 
and  in  case  of  a  tie  the  House  of  Representatives,  voting 
by  states,  must  elect  one  of  the  two  highest,  President. 

It    happened    that  the  Federalists  were   in  a  majority  in   Election  of 
the  House,  both  as  ordinarily  constituted  and  when  voting  Jefferson  by 
by  states.     Enraged  at  their  defeat,  and  embittered  beyond   schouier's 
all  measure  with  Jefferson,  they  determined  to  thwart  the    United 
will  of  the  people  and  elect  Burr ;  for  there  was  no  question   Sfafys>  •• 
as   to  which    candidate    the   Republicans   desired  to   have 
President.     This  was  against  the  advice  of  Hamilton,  who 
distrusted  and  hated  Burr  even  more  than  he  did  Jefferson. 
Thirty-six   ballots   were    necessary    before    the    Federalists 
could  bring  themselves  to  acquiesce  in  Jefferson's  election, 
and  even  then  they  refused  to  vote  for  him,  and  permitted 
him   to   be   chosen   only   by   absenting   themselves.      The 
Federalists  lost  greatly  by  this  political  maneuver.     Once 
in  power,  the  Republicans  proposed  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  revising  the  method  of  choosing  the  President 
and  Vice-President  (p.  319). 


TJie  Federalist  Supremacy 


[§2I2 


The 

Judiciary 
Act,  1801. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I,  500. 


Adams's 
"  midnight 
appoint 
ments." 


212.  The  Judiciary  Act,  1801.  —  Defeated  in  the  election, 
the  Federalists  "retreated  into  the  Judiciary  as  a  strong 
hold."  The  Judiciary,  as  it  was  established  at  the  time  of 
the  organization  of  the  government,  was  more  than  suffi 
cient  for  the  transaction  of  all  the  business  that  was  likely 
to  come  before  it  for  many  years.  Nevertheless,  the  Feder 
alists,  after  the  results  of  the  election  were  known,  pushed 
through  Congress  an  act  greatly  enlarging  it  and  providing 
many  new  and  valuable  places  to  be  filled  by  the  President 
of  the  defeated  party.  The  Constitution  forbids  a  member 
of  Congress  to  accept  an  office  which  has  been  created,  or 
the  emoluments  of  which  have  been  increased,  during  his 
term  as  a  member  of  that  body.  This  requirement  was 
now  evaded  by  promoting  many  district  judges  to  the 
new  positions,  and  filling  the  vacancies  thus  created  by  the 
appointment  of  members  of  Congress.  One  of  Adams's 
judicial  appointments  deserves  a  fuller  mention.  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  Jay's  successor  in  the  chief-justiceship,  resigned, 
and  John  Marshall  was  nominated  in  his  stead.  He  was  at 
the  moment  acting  as  Secretary  of  State  and  for  a  few  days 
performed  the  duties  of  both  offices, —  a  combination  of 
executive  and  judicial  functions  not  contemplated  by  the 
Constitution.  He  proved  to  be  the  ablest  legal  luminary 
America  has  yet  produced.  For  thirty-five  years  he  re 
mained  at  the  head  of  the  Supreme  Court,  continuing  in 
that  branch  of  the  government  the  broad  constructive  theo 
ries  of  constitutional  interpretation  maintained  by  the 
Federalists. 

.Adams  also  filled  up  every  vacant  office  in  the  govern 
ment,  and  Marshall  was  still  busy  countersigning  commis 
sions  when  the  hour  of  twelve  struck  on  the  night  of  March 
3,  1801,  and  the  Federalist  supremacy  came  to  an  end.  At 
dawn  the  next  morning  Adams  set  out  for  his  home  in 
Quincy,  Massachusetts,  without  waiting  to  greet  his  unwel 
come  successor. 


Questions  and  Topics  293 

(To 

\*3 

SUGGESTIVE   QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 
§§  191-198.  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT 

a.  Put  as  a  heading  in   note-book   "Party  Government";    begin 
its  outline  with   the   following  heads:    definition   of  party;    why  are 
political  parties  necessary  ?  trace  origin  and  growth  of  party  govern 
ment  in  the  United  States  ;   discuss  organization  of  parties  ;    describe 
the  present  political  organizations  in  your  state  ;   ought  a  citizen  to 
attach  himself  to  a  party  ?  what  are  Independents  and  what  political 
value  have  they,  if  any?  what  political  value  has  a  "regular"  party 
man,  if  any  ? 

b.  State  the  fundamental  principles  held  by  the  first  two  great  politi 
cal  parties;   are  these  principles  party  issues  to-day? 

c.  Compare  Washington's  Inaugural  Address  with  that  of  the  pres 
ent  chief  magistrate  under  the  following  heads  :  personal  tone,  specific 
statement,  declaration  of  political  principles,  self-effacement,  English 
style.     Account  for  difference. 

d.  State  the  legal  relations  of  the  cabinet  officers  to  the  President; 
to  Congress.     Compare  with  British  cabinet  system. 

e.  Was  the  declaration  that  "  Congress  had  no  authority  to  interfere 
with  slavery  within  the  states"  binding  on  future  Congresses? 

§§  200-204.  FOREIGN  RELATIONS 

a.  Bring  to  class  a  brief  digest  of  the  history  of  Great  Britain  and 
France,  1783-1801. 

b.  Review  the  services  of  France  to  the  United  States,  1776-83,  and 
then  discuss  her  treatment  by  the  United  States  at  this  period. 

c.  Why  does  the  Neutrality  Proclamation  mark  an  epoch  in  United 
States  history? 

§  205.   WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS 

Enter  in  your  note-book  Washington's  views  touching  the  following 
points :  the  continuance  of  the  Union,  sectional  parties,  combinations 
and  associations,  changes  in  Constitution,  federal  authority,  party  spirit, 
encroachments  by  departments,  public  education,  national  antipathies 
and  attachments,  European  alliances.  Watch  the  course  of  the  nar 
ration  to  see  how  far  Washington's  warnings  were  prophetic. 

§§  206-210.    JOHN  ADAMS'S  ADMINISTRATION 

a.  What  is  the  significance  in  United  States  history  of  French  rela 
tions  at  this  time? 


294  The  Federalist  Supremacy 

b.  What  are  the  features  of  the  present  Naturalization  Act? 

c.  Under  what   headings  in  note-book   must   matter   in    §  209  be 
entered?      Why    are    the    "compact    theory"    and    "nullification" 
spoken  of  as  premise  and  conclusion?     Why  is  Madison  called  the 
"Father  of  the  Constitution"?     Has  his  testimony  in   the  Virginia 
Resolutions  as  to  the   nature  of  the  Constitution  any  value?     Care 
fully  define  interposition,  nullification. 


§  211.   ELECTION  OF  1800 

a.  Breach  in  Federalist  party :  causes ;   describe  and  criticise  con 
duct  of  opponents;  results. 

b.  Explain  the  original  method  of  election  of  President  and  state 
its  advantages  and  disadvantages;   what  changes  were   made   by  tho 
Twelfth   Amendment?     How   far   were    they   improvements?      What 
method  would  you  recommend,  and  why? 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Consider  the  Federalist  party  under  the  following  heads :  promi 
nent  men,  theory,  services,  errors;   why  was  it  natural  and  fortunate 
that  such  a  party  should  at  first  direct  the  destinies  of  the  United 
States  ?     Why  natural  and  fortunate  that  it  should  fall  ? 

b.  Look  up  Principles  of  Neutrality,  Principles  of  Consular  Powers. 

c.  Enter  in  note-book  list  of  constitutional  questions  which  arose 
during  this  period. 

TOPICS  FOR  INDIVIDUAL  INVESTIGATION 

a.  Summarize  Hamilton's  statements  of  foreign  debt,  domestic  debt, 
state  debts;  define  his  attitude  toward  each,  and  summarize  his  reasons 
(Guide,  332). 

b.  Explain  the  Funding  Bill  (Guide,  332). 

c.  Explain  the  compromise  over  Assumption  (Guide,  332). 

d.  Summarize  Hamilton's  argument  on  the  constitutionality  of  the 
United  States  Bank;  summarize  Jefferson's  argument  (Guide,  334). 

e.  Summarize  the  leading  speeches  on  Jay's  Treaty  (279,  second 
reference). 

f.  Summarize  the  repressive  acts  of  1798  (284,  second  reference). 

g.  Summarize  the  Kentucky  Resolutions,  the  Virginia  Resolutions 
(286,  287). 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  JEFFERSONIAN   REPUBLICANS,    1801-1812 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Johnston's  American  Politics,  55-77;  Hig- 
ginson's  Larger  History,  344-365  ;  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union, 
176-206;  Walker's  Making  of  the  Nation,  168-229;  Schouler's  United 
States,  II,  ch.  vii. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Wilson's  Presidents;  Schouler's  Jefferson 
(M.  A.);  Morse's/.  Q.  Adams  (S.  S.);  Gay's  Madison  (S.  S.); 
Adams's  John  Randolph  (S.  S.);  Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West; 
Larned's  History  for  Ready  Reference;  Schouler's  United  States; 
*Hildreth's  United  States  ;  Maurice  Thompson's  Louisiana.  Larger 
biographies  of  the  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §  25. 

Sources.  —  Cooper  and  Fenton,  American  Politics;  Stedman  and 
Hutchinson,  Library  of  American  Literature  ;  Benton's  Abridgment; 
American  History  Leaflets  ;  Williams's  Statesman's  Manual  ;  Adams's 
New  England  federalism.  Writings  of  the  leading  statesmen,  Guide, 
§§  32>  335  MacDonald's  Documents. 

Maps.  —  Mac  Coun's  Historical  Geography;  Hart's  Epoch  Maps; 
Winsor's  America. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a,  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  167-171  (Topics  and  References). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  McMaster's  United  States;  Maclay's 
United  States  Navy  ;  Goodrich's  Recollections;  Dwight's  Travels; 
J.  Q.  Adams's  Diary  ;  Parton's  Burr,  Jackson,  and  Jefferson  ;  Schuy- 
ler's  American  Diplomacy;  Sullivan's  Familiar  Letters  ;  Basil  Hall's 
Voyages  and  J^ravels  ;  Drake's  Making  of  the  West. 

Bynner's  Zachary  Phips  ;  Hale's  Man  Without  a  Country  and 
Philip  Nolan's  Friends  ;  Paulding's  Diverting  History  of  John  Bull. 

THE  JEFFERSONIAN   REPUBLICANS,  1801-1812 
213.    American  Ideals,  1800.  —  Before  1800,  the  Ameri-   Rise  of 


can  people  seemed  to  stand  still,  as  if  lost  in  the  traditions 

i  ,  .  ,-     ,  rr-.i  T  •      i  inventive 

and  prejudices  of  the  past.     The  great  political  overturn 

295 


296 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§  214 


which  some  writers  call  the  Revolution  of  1800,  marks  the 
point  of  time  when  this  indifference  gave  way  to  an  outburst 
of  mental  activity  and  to  a  fertility  of  invention  that,  in  the 
life  of  one  generation  (1800-30),  changed  the  American 
people  into  the  energetic  race  it  has  ever  since  been.  It 
lost  much  of  its  natural  opposition  to  that  which  is  new  and 
prepared  to  take  advantage  of  the  great  opportunities  which 
the  application  of  modern  invention  to  the  natural  wealth 
of  the  United  States  placed  within  reach.  At  the  same 
time,  the  American  people  sought  to  elevate  the  intellectual 
and  the  material  position  of  the  average  citizen.  These 


Numbers, 
1800. 


Movement  of  the  center  of  population 

tasks  were  difficult,  the  laborers  were  few,  and  a  less 
hopeful  race  might  well  have  been  dismayed  at  the  work 
before  it. 

214.  Population  in  1800. — The  census  of  1800  gives 
the  total  population  of  the  United  States  as  about  five 
millions  (5,308,483),  in  comparison  with  a  population  of 
four  millions  in  1790,  and  sixteen  hundred  thousand  in 
1760.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century  the  population  of 
the  British  Islands  was  some  fifteen  millions,  and  that  of 
France,  over  twenty-seven  millions.  These  five  million 
Americans  were  scattered  over  nearly  three  hundred  thou 
sand  square  miles  of  territory,  that  being  the  "  settled  area  " 
according  to  the  census.  At  least  two  thirds,  or  three  and 
one  half  millions,  lived  on  tide  'water,  or  within  fifty  miles 
of  it.  The  remainder  inhabited  the  slopes  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  or  the  new  settlements  in  the  Northwest  Territory, 


i8oo]  Population  in  1800  297 

Kentucky,    and   Tennessee,    which    were    then    frequently 
spoken  of  as  "The  West." 

The  growth  of  this  latter  region  had  been  wonderful  for   Settlement 
those  days,  before  the  time  of  steam.     In  1790  there  were   ofthe  West- 
about  one  hundred   and   eleven    thousand  settlers    in   the 
West;   their  number  had  increased  in  ten  years  to   three 
hundred   and  seventy  thousand,  distributed  as  follows  :  in 
Kentucky,    two    hundred    and    twenty   thousand,   including 
forty  thousand  slaves ;  in  Tennessee,  one  hundred  and  five 
thousand,  of  whom  fourteen  thousand  were  slaves ;  and  in 
the  Northwest  Territory,  forty-five  thousand,  all  free. 

The  center  of  population  was  near  Baltimore,  but  it  Distribution 
had  already  advanced  forty-one  miles  on  its  westward  c  P°Pula" 
march,  —  in  1790  it  had  been  twenty-three  miles  east  of 
Baltimore,  and  now  it  was  eighteen  miles  west  of  that 
city.  The  inhabitants  of  the  original  thirteen  states  and 
of  Vermont  were  distributed  somewhat  as  follows  :  north 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  (p.  99)  there  were  nearly  two 
million  seven  hundred  thousand,  including  one  hundred 
thousand  slaves ;  south  of  that  line  there  were  two  million 
two  hundred  thousand,  of  whom  nine  hundred  thousand 
were  slaves.  The  white  population  of  the  South  was  there 
fore  just  one  half  of  that  of  the  North.  The  state  which 
possessed  the  largest  slave  population  was  Virginia,  with 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  slaves,  in  a  total  popula 
tion  of  nearly  nine  hundred  thousand  ;  in  South  Carolina 
there  were  thirty  thousand  whites  and  seventy  thousand 
blacks. 

The  American  people  has  usually  been   regarded  as  of    Racial 
English  origin,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  race  was  the   e 
most  numerous  and  the  most  important ;  and  American  in 
stitutions  have  their  source  mainly  in  English  institutions,  as 
developed   in   colonial    days.     The  first   three  quarters  of 
the  eighteenth  century  had  witnessed  a  great  immigration 
from  Europe  to  America;  but  from  1775  to  1800  few  immi 
grants  landed  on  the  shores  of  the  United  States.     Many 
men  who  played  prominent  parts  in  the  formation   of  the 


298  The  Jeffcrsoniaii  Republicans  [§214 

Constitution  and  in  the  organization  of  the  government 
were  born  outside  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  For 
instance,  the  three  great  financiers,  Robert  Morris,  Alex 
ander  Hamilton,  and  Albert  Gallatin,  were  foreign  born; 
James  Wilson,  who  contributed  powerfully  to  secure  the 
ratification  of  the  Constitution,  was  a  Scot,  and  William 
Jackson,  the  defender  of  slavery,  was  an  Englishman. 
But,  with  the  exception  of  those  foreigners  who  were 
already  on  the  soil  in  1775,  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  in  1800  were  born  in  America.  They  were  de 
scended  from  all  the  nations  of  northwestern  Europe, 
and  it  will  be  interesting  to  note  the  racial  origins  of 
New  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  sections.  In  New  Eng- 

Engiand  and    j     d  and  Virginia,  there  was  less  of  the  non-English  ele- 

Virgmia. 

ment  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  country;  but  even 
in  New  England  there  were  descendants  of  Scots  banished 
by  Cromwell  after  the  victories  of  Dunbar  and  Worcester, 
of  Scotch-Irish  immigrants  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and 
of  Huguenots  who  had  fled  from  France  at  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes.  In  the  newly  settled  portions  of 
Virginia  there  were  often  descendants  of  Scotch-Irish  immi 
grants  and  of  German  Protestants.  But  taking  the  New 
England  states  and  Virginia  as  a  whole,  it  may  fairly 
be  said  that  the  bulk  of  the  people  were  of  English 
extraction. 

The  Middle  In  the  Middle  states  there  was  the  greatest  diversity  of 
population.  New  York  City,  originally  settled  by  the 
Dutch,  contained  people  of  many  races  even  as  far  back  as 
the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  War ;  on  the  banks  of 
the  Hudson  and  the  Mohawk,  there  were  large  German 
settlements.  In  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  were  people 
of  many  races  and  religions,  and  in  the  extreme  south  were 
large  numbers  of  Germans,  French,  Scots,  and  Scotch-Irish. 
These  various  races  were  all  drawn  from  the  two  great 
branches  of  the  Aryan  stock,  —  Germanic  and  Keltic, — 
which  have  always  shown  the  greatest  power  of  living  side 
by  side.  They  lived  happily  together  on  American  soil, 


i8oo] 


Analysis  of  the  Population 


299 


and,  by  a  process  of  growing  together,  laid  the  foundation 
of  a  strong  aggressive  race,  the  American  people,  which 
came  into  existence  in  the  epoch  between  the  inaugu 
ration  of  Thomas  Jefferson  and  the  election  of  Andrew 
Jackson. 

215.    Analysis   of  the   Population.  —  The   collection   of   Cities  and 
large  portions  of  the  populace  in  cities  and  towns  had  towns' 
scarcely  begun.      Only  about  five  per  cent  of   the  total 


Density  of  population,  1800 

population  can  be  regarded  as  urban  as  distinguished  from 
rural.  This  part  of  the  people  was  gathered  into  eleven 
cities  and  towns,  only  five  of  which  —  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Baltimore,  Boston,  and  Charleston  —  would  now  be 
regarded  as  urban.  Philadelphia,  the  largest  of  them, 
contained  seventy  thousand  inhabitants.  It  was  the  finest 
city  in  America,  and  patriotic  Americans  regarded  it  as 
surpassing  Paris  and  London  in  elegance :  the  principal 
streets  were  lighted,  many  of  them  were  paved,  a  system 


3OO  The  Jcffersonian  Republicans  [§216 

of  drainage  was  already  devised,  and  water  was  furnished 
to  the  inhabitants  by  wooden  pipes  from  a  pure  source  of 
supply  outside  the  city.  New  York,  with  sixty  thousand 
inhabitants,  was  behind  Philadelphia  in  introducing  im 
provements,  but,  even  in  1800,  it  must  have  been  an 
agreeable  place  of  residence  ;  the  houses  then  stood  near 
together  on  the  southern  end  of  Manhattan  Island,  and 
Broadway  was  a  fashionable  drive.  Baltimore,  the  third 
in  point  of  population  (twenty-six  thousand),  was  situated 
south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  ;  but  it  was  a  Pennsylvania 
seaport  fully  as  much  as  a  Maryland  town,  as  it  absorbed 
most  of  the  commerce  of  the  Susquehanna  valley.  Bos 
ton,  with  twenty-four  thousand  inhabitants,  was  a  thickly 
built  little  town  with  narrow  streets  and  a  thriving  com 
merce.  Charleston  contained  twenty  thousand  souls,  and 
bore  a  distinctively  Southern  aspect;  it  controlled  the  rice 
trade,  and  was  the  place  of  residence  of  the  wealthy  planters 
of  South  Carolina.  Providence,  Savannah,  Norfolk,  Rich 
mond,  Albany,  and  Portsmouth,  each  contained  between 
eight  and  five  thousand  inhabitants.  Washington,  the  new 
capital,  had  been  recently  occupied;  it  was  hardly  a  vil 
lage,  except  on  paper,  and  contained  only  the  Capitol,  the 
White  House,  two  departmental  buildings,  and  a  few 
Stedmanand  boarding  houses;  the  public  buildings  were  still  uncom- 
Hutchinson,  pleted .  Mrs  Adams  found  the  audience  room  of  the  White 
House  convenient  for  drying  clothes,  and  the  representa 
tives  met  in  a  temporary  building  erected  in  the  middle  of 
the  unfinished  Capitol. 

Area.  216.    Various  Statistics. — The  area  of  the  United  States 

was  about  eight  hundred  thousand  square  miles  (849,145), 
of  which  only  three  hundred  thousand  were  partially  occu 
pied.  The  total  valuation  of  the  United  States  was  esti 
mated  to  be  about  eighteen  hundred  million  dollars,  or 
about  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  dollars  per  head 

(P-  579)- 

Exports  and         Notwithstanding  the  obstacles  placed  in  the  way  of  the 
H^West  India  trade,  and  the  dislocation  of  commerce,  owing 


i8oo]  Occupations  of  the  People  301 

to  the  breach  with  France,  the  country  was  prosperous,  and      y 
foreign  trade  had  increased  in  a  marvelous  manner.     The     / 
exports,  excluding  bullion,  were  valued  at  over  twenty  mil 
lion  dollars  in  1790,  and  at  over  seventy  millions  in  1800. 
The  imports  had  increased  at  a  still  more  rapid  rate;    in 
1790  they  were  valued  at  twenty-five  millions,  in  1800  at 
over  ninety  millions. 

217.  Occupations  of  the  People.  —  Agriculture  was  the  industries, 
principal  occupation  of  the  people,  although  the  commerce 
of  the  Northern  states  was  of  great  importance.  Manufac 
turing  had  been  begun,  but  as  yet  was  in  its  infancy,  and 
the  fisheries  remained  a  source  of  great  proportional  wealth. 
Wheat  and  other  food  grains  were  largely  exported  from 
the  middle  group  of  states,  including  those  on  Chesapeake 
Bay;  New  Jersey  produced  more  than  any  other.  In  1791 
more  than  six  hundred  thousand  barrels  of  flour  and  one 
million  bushels  of  wheat  were  exported,  and  about  double 
that  amount  in  1800.  The  soil  and  climate  of  New  Eng 
land  were  unsuited  to  agriculture  on  an  extensive  scale, 
but  potatoes,  onions,  turnips,  and  carrots  flourished  and 
formed  an  important  article  of  export  to  the  West  India 
Islands,  whenever  they  were  open  to  American  commerce. 
Tobacco  and  rice  were  the  great  staples  of  the  Southern 
states,  and  with  naval  stores  and  indigo  were  the  most 
valuable  exports  of  that  section;  the  cultivation  of  cotton 
for  export  was  just  beginning  to  attract  attention. 

Foreign  commerce  was  thriving  in  1800,  and  vessels  fly-   Commerce, 
ing  the  flag  of  the  United  States  had  already  visited  every 
sea;  most  of  these  merchant  ships  were  very  small,  seldom 
exceeding  four  hundred  tons,  and  the  largest  vessel  in  the 
navy  measured  only  fifteen  hundred  tons.     Coastwise  navi 
gation  was  still  uncertain  and  dangerous,  but  more  vessels   Robert 
were  employed,  and  departures  and  arrivals  were  more  fre-   Fulton- 

Huberts 

quent  and  more  punctual.     The  use  of  steam  for  motive  inventors, 

power  had  as  yet  attracted  slight  attention :   in  1803  there  ch.  ii; 
were  probably  only  five   steam    engines    in    the   country. 

Three  years  later  (1806)   Robert  Fulton  began  the  con-  (M.  A.). 


3<D2  The  Jeffcrsonian  Republicans  [§218 

struction  of  his  steamboat,  amid  the  jeers  of  suspicious  and 
incredulous  onlookers.  The  age  of  steam  was  near  at  hand. 
The  manufacture  of  iron  had  been  begun  in  early  colonial 
days,  but  its  successful  development  had  been  prevented 
by  the  repressive  policy  of  the  British  Parliament.  There 
were  a  few  iron  mills  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  manufacture 
of  small  articles,  as  nails,  was  actively  carried  on  as  a 
household  industry  in  New  England.  The  vast  mineral 
resources  of  the  United  States  were  practically  untouched. 


Robert  Fulton 

Cotton  21 8.    Cotton  Culture  and  Manufacture.  —  One  of  the  things 

culture  and      wnich  impresses  the  student  of  the  colonial  and  early  con- 
manufacture.       .  ....  .  .        ....... 

stitutional  periods  is  the  commercial  and  political  intimacy 

which  then  existed  between  mercantile  New  England  and 
rice-growing  South  Carolina.  The  planters  of  the  latter 
colony  were  the  customers  of  the  slave  dealers  of  the  North, 
and  the  commerce  of  the  Southern  colony  and  state  was 
largely  in  the  hands  of  New  England  shipowners  and  mer 
chants.  The  first  thirty  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 


i8oo] 


Cotton  Culture  and  Manufacture 


303 


saw  a  great  revulsion  of  feeling  in  these  two  sections,  the 
cause  of  which  may  be  summed  up  in  one  word,  — cotton: 
the  Northerners  began  to  manufacture  cotton  and  desired 
to  be  protected  from  English  competition;  the  Southerners 
began  to  grow  cotton  in  large  quantities  for  export,  and 
came  to  regard  the  protective  system  as  hostile  to  the 
prosecution  of  their  industry.  By  fastening  slavery  on  the 


cotton-growing  states,  this  industry  also  dominated  the  poli 
tics  of  the  second  third  of  the  century. 

The  successful  adaptation  of  the  steam  engine  to  the   improve- 
moving  of  machinery  was  closely  connected   in    England   ments  in 

.  ,  .  .         .  spinning  and 

with  great  improvements  in  the   machinery  for   spinning  weaving- 
and  weaving:  Hargreaves  invented  the  spinning  jenny  in   machinery. 
1767;  two  years  later  (1769)  Arkwright  produced  the  draw 
ing  frame;  Crompton  followed  with  the  mule  spinner  in 
1784;  and  Cartwright  with  the  power  loom  in  1785.     These 
great  inventions  stimulated  the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth 


304 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§218 


Whitney's 
cotton  gin, 

1793- 
Hubert's 
Inventors, 
ch.  iii. 


Rise  of 
cotton 

manufacture 
in  America. 


in  England  and  vastly  increased  the  demand  for  cotton, 
which  was  then  supplied  by  Egypt  and  India.  Cotton  had 
been  grown  in  small  quantities  in  the  Southern  colonies 
since  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  had  been 
used  for  the  making  of  coarse  clothing  in  the  South.  In 
1786  the  results  of  cotton  raising  were  sufficiently  favora 
ble  to  induce  Madison  to  assert,  "There  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  the  United  States  will  one  day  become  a  great 
cotton-producing  country."  The  great  obstacle  to  the 
realization  of  this  expectation  was  the  expense  incurred  in 
the  separation  of  the  fiber  from  the  seed.  This  process 
had  to  be  tiresomely  performed  by  hand,  and  labor  was 
expensive,  even  in  the  South.  Notwithstanding  these 
adverse  conditions,  the  cultivation  of  cotton  proceeded. 
In  1790  the  South  produced  two  hundred  thousand  pounds 
of  cotton,  and  in  the  next  year  (1791)  exported  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty-nine  thousand  pounds.  Two  years  later 
(1793),  Eli  Whitney,  a  Connecticut  schoolmaster,  then  re 
siding  in  Georgia,  invented  an  arrangement  by  which  the 
cotton  fiber  was  drawn  by  saw  teeth  through  openings  too 
small  to  admit  of  the  passage  of  the  seed,  and  thus  multi 
plied  the  capacity  of  one  slave  in  cleaning  cotton  about 
three  hundred  fold.  Whitney's  invention  gained  billions 
of  dollars  for  the  Southerners;  he  himself  was  mobbed 
when  he  sought  to  enforce  his  right  to  the  production  of 
his  cunning  brain.  The  exportation  of  cotton  now  in 
creased  with  marvelous  rapidity:  in  1800  nearly  twenty 
million  pounds,  worth  five  million  dollars,  were  exported, 
an  amount  which  was  exactly  doubled  in  three  years,  and, 
by  1824,  the  amount  had  increased  to  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  million  pounds,  worth  twenty-two  million  dol 
lars. 

The  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth  in  the  United  States 
proceeded  more  slowly.  Parliament  (1774)  forbade  the 
exportation  of  machinery,  or  any  patterns  of  machinery, 
for  the  spinning  or  weaving  of  cotton.  Spinning  machin 
ery,  however,  was  set  up  in  the  United  States,  at  Beverly 


1800]  Slavery  305 

and  Bridgewater  in  Massachusetts,  Pawtucket  in  Rhode 
Island,  Norwich  in  Connecticut,  and  at  Philadelphia,  but 
it  was  of  slight  efficiency.  In  1790  Samuel  Slater,  an  Samuel 
Englishman,  who  had  worked  as  an  apprentice  to  Ark-  Slater- 
wright,  came  to  America.  In  partnership  with  Brown  and 
Almy,  two  Providence  men,  he  reproduced  from  memory 
Arkwright's  machinery,  and  set  it  up  in  a  small  mill  which 
his  associates  had  started  two  years  before.  Other  spin 
ning  mills  were  soon  erected,  but  in  1812  there  was  no 
machinery  for  weaving  in  the  country.  Its  introduction  F.  C.  Lowell, 
was  due  to  Francis  Cabot  Lowell  of  Boston,  who  visited 
England,  studied  the  process  of  manufacture,  and  returned 
with  many  new  ideas,  but  without  patterns  or  machinery. 
He  had  observed  keenly,  however,  and  in  company  with 
Patrick  T.  Jackson  devised  a  power  loom.  In  1813,  with 
the  assistance  of  Nathan  Appleton,  they  built  a  small  fac 
tory  at  Waltham,  near  Boston,  and  began  the  spinning 
and  weaving  of  cotton  in  one  factory  for  the  first  time  in 
history.  From  these  small  beginnings,  the  industry  soon 
grew  into  large  proportions. 

219.    Slavery.  —  In   a   preceding   chapter,    the    gradual    Process  of 
spread  of  emancipation  in  the  North  has  been  mentioned   emanciPa- 
(p.  227).     Since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  New   North. 
York  had  joined  the  other  Northern  states  in  providing  for 
the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  negro,  and  in  1800  New 
Jersey  was  the  only  state  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line 
which  had  not  provided  for  the  freeing  of  the  slaves.     She, 
too,  passed  a  gradual  emancipation  act  in  1804.     Of  all 
these  states,   Massachusetts  and  Vermont  alone  declared 
slavery  to  be  illegal;  in  the  other  states,  the  process  of 
emancipation  was  so  slow,  that  in  1840  there  were  still  one 
thousand  one  hundred  and  nine  negroes   legally  held  in 
bondage   in   the  North;   Massachusetts,   Maine,  Vermont, 
and  Michigan  were  the  only  states  in  which  there  were  no 
slaves. 

In  the  South,  there  were  several  emancipation  societies 
in  1800,  and  many  men  expected  or  hoped  for  the  speedy 


306 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§220 


Emancipa 
tion  in  the 
South. 


Influence  of 
slavery. 


Improve 
ments  in 
transport. 
Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period, 
60-63. 


extinction  of  slavery  in  that  part  of  the  country.  There 
were  then  nearly  a 'million  slaves  in  that  section,  and  the 
increasing  profitableness  of  cotton  culture  put  an  end  to 
projects  of  emancipation.  The  price  of  slaves  in  the  cot 
ton  states  began  to  rise;  states  which  had  prohibited  the 
importation  of  slaves  repealed  the  prohibitory  statutes;  and 
the  Virginians,  who  had  been  anxious  to  bring  about 
emancipation  in  1789,  began  to  lose  interest  in  the  matter 
now  that  they  saw  a  profitable  market  for  their  surplus 
slaves  in  the  states  to  the  southward.  The  great  expansion 
of  the  cotton  industry  increased  the  wealth  of  the  country, 
but  in  so  far  as  it  fixed  slavery  on  the  nation,  it  can  be 
regarded  in  no  other  light  than  as  a  terrible  evil, —  for  the 
ill  wrought  by  slavery  cannot  be  overestimated. 

It  was  not  only  in  its  evil  influence  on  the  society  in 
which  it  flourished  that  slavery  worked  injury  to  the  coun 
try;  it  divided  the  nation  into  two  hostile  sections,  whose 
interests  and  modes  of  thought  speedily  became  antagonistic. 
This  division  was  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  those  portions 
of  the  West  situated  north  of  the  Ohio  River  were  peopled 
mainly  by  emigrants  from  the  older  Northern  states  on  the 
seaboard,  and  those  states  lying  south  of  that  river  were 
settled  almost  entirely  by  colonists  from  the  South,  who 
migrated  thither  with  their  slaves.  A  large  part  of  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  was  composed  of  mountainous  regions,  and 
was  outside  of  the  cotton  belt.  These  states,  therefore, 
although  tolerating  slavery,  developed  on  different  lines 
from  the  cotton-growing  states  south  of  them. 

220.  Internal  Communication.  —  Slight  improvements  had 
been  made  in  transportation  since  the  days  when  the  first 
congressmen  journeyed  to  Philadelphia.  The  roads  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  larger  towns  and  those  forming  the  mail 
route,  which  extended  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  had  been 
improved.  It  now  took  twenty  days  to  carry  the  mails  from 
the  Kennebec  to  the  Savannah,  and  twenty-two  days 
from  Philadelphia  to  Nashville,  Tennessee.  Coaches  ran 
from  Boston  to  New  York  three  times  a  week,  and  occu- 


i8oo]  Intellectual  Life  307 

pied  three  days  on  the  journey,  and  a  coach  ran  from  New 
York  to  Philadelphia,  occupying  nearly  two  days  in  going 
from  the  Hudson  to  the  Delaware.  South  of  Philadelphia 
there  was  a  good  road  as  far  as  Baltimore;  south  of  that 
point  it  was  bad  and  dangerous.  Beyond  the  Potomac,  the 
roads  rapidly  decreased  in  safety  and  number,  until  south 
of  the  James  the  traveler  was  compelled  to  have  resort 
to  horseback;  a  coach  which  ran  from  Charleston  to  Savan 
nah  was  the  only  public  conveyance  south  of  the  Potomac. 
In  fact,  it  may  be  said  without  much  fear  of  exaggeration, 
that  San  Francisco,  for  all  practical  purposes,  is  nearer  to 
New  York  at  the  present  day  than  Washington  was  in  1800. 

221.  Intellectual  Life.  — The  intellectual  life  of  the  peo-  Torpidity  of 
pie  was  at  a  standstill.  Philadelphia  remained  the  literary  j^llect^al 
center  of  the  country,  but  there  was  backwardness  even 
there.  Franklin  and  Rittenhouse,  who  had  given  it  its 
prominence  in  science,  were  both  dead,  and  had  left  no  one 
to  fill  their  places.  A  small  group  of  literary  men,  of  whom 
Philip  Freneau  is  the  best  known,  produced  the  most 
creditable  literary  work  of  the  day.  At  New  Haven,  the 
Dwights,  Timothy  and  Theodore,  with  Joel  Barlow,  strove 
to  establish  a  literary  center;  their  success  may  be  gathered 
from  a  perusal  of  their  principal  works, —  Barlow's  Colum-  Stedman  and 
Had  and  Timothy  D wight's  Greenfield  Hill;  the  latter' s  Hutchinson, 
Travels  in  New  England  and  New  York  is  one  of  the  most 
instructive  books  of  the  time.  The  great  literary  master 
pieces,  save  the  classics,  were  scarcely  studied  at  all: 
Shakspere  was  dreaded  in  New  England,  a  German  book 
could  not  be  bought  in  Boston,  nor  was  there  one  in  the 
library  of  the  college  at  Cambridge;  Schiller  and  Goethe 
were  unknown  even  in  Pennsylvania,  except  possibly  in 
translations.  The  literary  men  who  were  to  give  reputation 
to  American  letters  during  the  next  half  century  were  not 
yet  out  of  school :  Washington  Irving  was  a  lad  of  seven 
teen,  James  Fenimore  Cooper  a  boy  of  eleven,  and  William 
Cullen  Bryant  a  child  of  six. 

The  zeal  for  education  which  had  been  so  marked  at  an 


308 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§222 


Decline  of 
education. 


Encouraging 
signs. 


Cause  of  the 
fall  of  the 
Federalists. 


earlier  day  (p.  145)  had  greatly  diminished.  In  the  awak 
ening  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  there  had  been  much 
enthusiasm  on  the  subject,  but  it  had  since  died  out.  A 
system  of  public  instruction  had  been  established  in  Rhode 
Island  and  in  New  York,  the  latter  in  1795;  but  it  was 
already  declining  in  1800.  The  colleges  had  not  improved 
their  methods  of  teaching  or  enlarged  the  scope  of  their 
instruction;  they  had  slight  hold  on  the  community,  and 
fewer  students  attended  them  than  in  the  earlier  years. 
The  medical  schools  at  Philadelphia  and  Boston  were  the 
only  institutions  in  the  country  where  any  appreciable 
attention  was  paid  to  science. 

In  only  two  respects  was  American  mental  activity  credit 
able, —  in  the  production  of  state  papers  and  in  works  of 
art.  The  political  documents  of  this  epoch  were  well 
written  and  logically  constructed :  students  of  politics  and 
politicians  of  all  grades  and  parentage  have  necessarily 
had  resort  to  these  admirably  expressed  documents, 
which  have  thus  served  to  keep  the  English  of  America 
unusually  pure. 

The  other  respect  in  which  the  American  people  gave  a 
sign  of  latent  power  was  in  art.  Gilbert  Stuart,  Benjamin 
West,  Washington  Allston,  with  Copley  and  Malbone, 
formed  a  body  of  artists  of  whom  any  nation  might  well  be 
proud.  They  received  their  training  in  England,  and 
achieved  most  of  their  renown  there.  We  must  now  turn 
to  a  study  of  the  political  history  of  Jefferson's  administra 
tions. 

222.  The  Federalists  and  the  People. —  The  fall  of  the 
Federalists  was  due  to  the  old-fashioned  ideas  of  the  party 
leaders,  and  to  their  failure  to  understand  the  nature  of 
republican  institutions.  Hamilton's  opinion  of  the  people 
has  been  already  stated  (p.  261),  but  other  leading  men  in 
the  party  were  of  nearly  the  same  mind.  For  example, 
Theodore  Sedgvvick  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  people 
as  "Jacobins  and  miscreants,"  and  George  Cabot  held 
"democracy  to  be  the  government  of  the  worst." 


Thomas  Jefferson 
From  an  engraving  by  W.  Holl 


309 


3io 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§223 


Abuse  of 

political 

opponents. 


Jefferson's 
first  inaugu 
ral,  1801. 
Schouler's 
United 
States, 

11,1-4! 

Johnston's 

O  rat  ions  t  I, 
147-163. 


The  abuse  of  political  opponents  which  so  painfully 
marked  the  opening  years  of  the  government  under  the 
Constitution  was  not  confined  to  Republican  denunciation 
of  Federalists.  On  the  contrary,  Jefferson  was  the  mark  of 
abusive  reproaches  from  the  pens  of  newspaper  editors 
and  the  tongues  of  orators  and  ministers.  One  Federalist 
editor  for  a  time  habitually  wrote  of  Jefferson  and  Gallatin 
as  "the  knaves,"  "the  cold  thinking  villains  .  .  .  whose 
black  blood  runs  temperately  bad."  Theodore  Dwight,  one 
of  the  New  Haven  literary  coterie  (p.  307)  and  the  histo 
riographer  of  the  Federalists,  expressed  the  opinions  ot 
many  men  of  that  party  in  the  following  remarkable  sen 
tences  spoken  on  July  7,  1801 :  "We  have  now  reached 
the  consummation  of  democratic  blessedness.  We  have  a 
country  governed  by  blockheads  and  knaves.  .  .  .  Our 
sirnames,  the  only  mark  of  distinction  among  families, 
are  abolished.  .  .  .  Can  the  imagination  paint  anything 
more  dreadful?  Some  parts  of  the  subject  are  indeed  fit 
only  for  horrid  contemplation."  On  the  other  hand, 
Hamilton,  who  asserted  that  he  had  "as  much  reason  to 
hate  Jefferson  as  any  man,"  predicted  that  his  adminis 
tration  would  be  cautious  and  moderate, —  a  prediction 
which  was  abundantly  justified  by  the  facts. 

223.  Jefferson's  Inaugural. — Jefferson  was  indeed  anx 
ious  to  moderate  the  feelings  of  asperity  which  had  been 
aroused  by  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  and  the  attempt  to 
thwart  the  wishes  of  the  people  by  electing  Burr  President. 
With  a  few  friends  he  walked  from  his  boarding  house  to 
the  Capitol,  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  read  his  inaugural 
address.  "The  sum  of  good  government,"  he  declared  to 
be  "a  wise  and  frugal  government  which  shall  restrain  men 
from  injuring  one  another,  [and]  shall  leave  them  other 
wise  free  to  regulate  their  own  pursuits."  Above  all,  he 
desired  conciliation,  saying,  "We  are  all  Republicans,  we 
are  all  Federalists,"  and  declared  "absolute  acquiescence 
in  the  decisions  of  the  majority  [to  be]  the  vital  principle 
of  republics."  He  then  proceeded  to  lay  down  the  broad 


i8oi] 


The  Civil  Service 


311 


fe 


of  his  policy  as  follows :  "  Equal  and  exact  justice  to 
all  men,  of  whatever  state  or  persuasion,  religious  or  politi 
cal;  peace,  commerce,  and  honest  friendship  with  all  na 
tions,   entangling  alliances  with  none;    .   .   .   economy  in 
the  public  expense,  that  labor  may  be  lightly  burdened;  the 
honest  payment  of  our  debts,  and  sacred  preservation  of  the 
public  faith;  encouragement  of  agriculture,   and  of  com 
merce  as  its  handmaid;  the  diffusion  of  information,  and 
arraignment  of  all  abuses  at  the  bar  of  public  reason ;  freedom 
of  religion,  freedom  of  the  press,  and  freedom  of  the  person. 
.   .   .     Should  we  wander  from  them  [the  above  principles] 
in  moments  of  error  and   alarm,   let  us  hasten  to  retrace 
our  steps  and  regain  the  road  which  alone  leads  to  peace, 
liberty,    and    safety." 
In  a  letter  written   a 
few  months  later  (May 
26,1801)  he  said:  "To 
preserve  the  peace  of 
our       fellow-citizens, 
promote    their     pros 
perity  and  happiness, 
reunite  opinion,  culti 
vate  a  spirit  of  candor, 
moderation,     charity, 
and     forbearance    to 
wards  one  another,  are 
objects      calling      for 
the  efforts  and   sacri 
fices    of    every    good 

Albert  Galiatin 

man  and  patriot. 

224.  The  Civil  Service. — Jefferson  was  very  fortunate  in  Jefferson's 
the  selection  of  his  leading  advisers.  He  placed  Madison 
at  the  head  of  the  State  Department  and  Galiatin  —  inferior 
only  to  Hamilton  as  a  financier  —  at  the  head  of  the  Treas 
ury.  The  new  administration  found  the  government  offices 
filled  with  Federalists,  owing  in  great  measure  to  the  pro 
scription  of  the  Republicans  by  Adams,  and  by  Washington 


heads  of 
departments. 


3 1 2  The  Jeffersonian  Republicans  [§  224 

Removals  during  the   later  years  of  his   presidency.     Among  these 

from  office,  office-holders  were  some  of  Jefferson's  most  bitter  oppo- 

Schoulers  .  J    . 

United  nents,  men  who  might  in  all  justice  be  said  to  have  exercised 

States, 
II.  6-12. 


John  Marshall 
After  a  painting  by  Inman 

"offensive  partisanship"  or  "industrious  opposition,"  as 
he  termed  it,  during  the  recent  struggle.  One  of  these 
was  Goodrich,  formerly  a  representative  from  Connecticut, 
where  Federalism  was  especially  rampant.  He  had  resigned 
his  seat  to  accept  from  President  Adams  the  position  of 


i8oi] 


The  Judiciary  Department 


313 


Collector  of  Customs  at  Nev/  Haven.  Jefferson  removed 
him  and  appointed  in  his  place  a  man  named  Bishop,  whose 
son  had  recently  defended  Republicanism  in  an  address 
before  the  literary  societies  of  Yale  College.  The  matter 
was  made  the  occasion  of  the  most  furious  abuse  of  the 
new  President. 

Jefferson  was  especially  indignant  at  what  he  termed 
"  the  indecent  conduct  [of  Adams]  in  crowding  nominations 
after  he  knew  they  were  not  for  himself,"  and  at  the  enlarge 
ment  of  the  Judiciary  Department,  out  of  all  proportion  to 
its  work  and  after  the  results  of  the  election  were  known. 
Congress,  when  it  met,  repealed  the  act  establishing  these 
new  courts,  and  Jefferson  refused  to  deliver  commissions 
which  Adams  and  Marshall  had  left  signed  at  the  moment 
of  their  hasty  departure  from  office.  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
in  the  case  of  Marbury  vs.  Madison,  which  was  brought  to 
compel  the  delivery  of  one  of  these  commissions,  forgot 
that  the  legality  of  his  own  act  was  partly  in  question,  and 
while  dismissing  the  case  on  technical  grounds,  declared 
as  his  opinion  that  Jefferson's  proceeding  was  "not  war 
ranted  by  law,  but  violative  of  a  legal  vested  right."  Jef 
ferson  naturally  paid  no  attention  to  such  an  expression  of 
opinion,  and  both  he  and  Marshall  were  too  cautious  in 
temperament  to  proceed  farther. 

In  addition  to  these  removals,  and  others  for  which  rea 
sons  were  assigned,  Jefferson,  in  the  course  of  the  first 
fourteen  months  of  his  administration,  made  sixteen  re 
movals  without  giving  reasons,  in  order,  in  all  probability, 
to  make  room  for  Republicans.  These  dismissals  must  be 
deplored,  as  they  furnished  the  precedent  for  the  whole 
sale  removals  by  Jackson.  But  Jefferson  was  far  from  using 
the  civil  service  as  a  reward  for  party  services,  as  it  was 
used  in  Jackson's  time.  Indeed,  he  pointedly  refused,  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  to  appoint  party  workers  to  office. 

225.  The  Judiciary  Department.  — This  great  branch  of 
the  government  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Federal 
ists,  although  many  judges  of  that  party  were  "legis- 


Repeal  of  the 

Judiciary 

Act. 

Schouler's 

United 

States, 

II,  25. 


Effect  of 
Jefferson's 
policy  as  to 
the  civil 
service. 


314 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§226 


Impeach 
ment  of 
Chase. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  I, 
460,  II,  86. 


Financial 

policy. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  II, 

22-24. 


lated  out  of  office  "  by  the  repeal  of  the  Judiciary  Act  of 
1800.  In  1803,  after  the  Republicans  had  been  in  control 
of  the  other  branches  of  the  government  for  two  years,  they 
first  used  the  process  of  impeachment,  the  means  provided 
in  the  Constitution  to  get  rid  of  incapable  and  ill-behaved 
judges.  The  first  case  was  that  of  a  district  judge,  whose 
drunkenness  while  in  discharge  of  his  office  was  fully  as 
certained,  and  the  Senate  convicted  the  accused.  The 
second  case  was  the  impeachment  of  Samuel  Chase  of 
Maryland,  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Chase's  demeanor  while  presiding  at  Callender's  trial  had 
resembled  that  of  a  seventeenth  century  judge,  and  his 
comments  on  the  conduct  of  the  other  two  branches  of  the 
government  delivered,  while  sitting  on  the  bench,  would 
now  be  considered  indecent.  The  impeachment  was 
badly  managed,  however:  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke, 
one  of  the  most  dramatic  figures  in  American  history  and 
a  man  of  brilliant  talents,  conducted  the  case  on  behalf  of 
the  House;  but  he  was  no  match  in  a  legal  contest  with  a 
trained  lawyer  like  Chase,  who  was  assisted,  moreover,  by 
the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  country.  Besides,  Chase  had 
deserved  well  of  the  nation  from  his  patriotic  behavior 
during  the  Revolution,  however  unbecoming  his  harangues 
may  have  been  in  a  judge.  Two  thirds  of  the  senators  were 
not  willing  to  vote  him  guilty,  and  the  prosecution  failed 
(1805).  It  should  be  stated  that  this  impeachment  seems 
to  have  been  undertaken  against  the  desire  and  advice  of 
the  President. 

226.  Financial  Policy. — Between  1792  and  1801,  the 
national  debt  had  increased  from  seventy-seven  million  to 
nearly  eighty-three  million  dollars.  The  deficits  which 
gave  rise  to  this  increase  were  caused  by  extraordinary 
expenses  in  connection  with  Indian  wars  and  with  the 
breach  with  France.  The  income  of  the  government  had 
grown  in  a  marvelous  manner  from  a  little  over  three  and 
one  half  millions  to  more  than  ten  and  one  half  millions; 
but  the  expenditures  had  increased  even  faster,  and  slightly 


1803]  The  Louisiana  Purchase 

exceeded  the  receipts  in  1800.  About  three  millions  were 
devoted  to  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  national  debt, 
not  far  from  six  millions  were  spent  on  the  army  and  navy, 
and  the  remainder  was  expended  on  the  civil  and  the  diplo 
matic  service.  Jefferson  and  Gallatin  at  once  sketched  Retrench- 
a  financial  policy  which  would  lead  to  retrenchments  in  ments> 
all  branches  of  the  government,  to  a  lightening  of  the  bur 
den  of  taxation  on  the  people,  and  to  a  considerable  reduc 
tion  of  the  public  debt.  The  great  increase  in  expenditures 
had  been  for  warlike  purposes,  especially  for  the  navy. 
The  army  was  now  reduced  nearly  one  half,  but  the  navy  was 
more  difficult  to  deal  with.  If  Jefferson  could  have  had 
his  way,  he  would  have  tied  the  war  ships  to  the  most  con 
venient  wharves,  under  the  immediate  eye  of  the  depart 
ment,  where  they  "  would  require  but  one  set  of  plunderers 
to  take  care  of  them."  As  it  was,  the  number  of  vessels 
in  commission  was  reduced  from  twenty-five  to  seven. 
Reductions  were  also  made  in  the  civil  expenditures  at 
the  time;  but,  later,  it  was  found  necessary  to  increase 
them.  The  internal  revenue  taxes  were  repealed,  but  the 
increase  from  the  imposts  more  than  made  up  for  this  loss 
of  revenue.  Between  1801  and  1809,  the  debt  was  reduced 
from  eighty-three  millions  to  forty-five  millions,  notwith 
standing  the  expenditures  incurred  in  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana  and  in  the  prosecution  of  the  naval  wars  against 
the  Barbary  powers. 

227.    The  Louisiana  Purchase,  1803.  — France  had  ceded   Louisiana 
the  colony  of  Louisiana  to  Spain  in  1763   (p.  116).     In   cededby 
1800,  bv  the  Treaty  of  St.   Ildefonso.   Spain   returner!    it   prance  ^oo 
to  France,   then  under  the   rulp  nf  Napnlp^n       The  an-   Schouier's 
nouncement  of  this  change  of  ownership  awakened  great    Umted 

.     ,.  .          .  States,  II,  40. 

indignation  in  the  United  States,  for  as  long  as  Louisiana 

was  in  the  hands  of  Spain,  a  weak  and  declining  state, 

little  fear  was  felt  of  the  growth  of  a  powerful  colony  west 

of  the  Mississippi  River.     Even  Jefferson,  averse  to  war   Excitement 

and  friendly  to  the   French,  was  aroused,  and  wrote  to   in  America. 

Robert   R.   Livingston,  then  American    minister  at  Paris 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§227 


(April,  1802):  "There  is  on  the  globe  one  single  spot,  the 
possessor  of  which  is  our  natural  and  habitual  enemy;  .  .  . 
The  day  that  France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans  fixes 
the  sentence  which  is  to  restrain  her  [France]  forever  within 
her  low-water  mark.  It  seals  the  union  of  two  nations,  who, 
in  conjunction,  can  maintain  exclusive  possession  of  the 
ocean.  From  that  moment  we  must  marry  ourselves  to  the 


The  United  States,   1803 

British  fleet  and  nation."  While  affairs  were  in  this  condi 
tion  of  tension,  news  nrrivpH  th^f,  thp  Spani^  gr>vprnnr  af 
New  Orleans  had  withdrawn  "  the  ripht  of  deposit  "  (p.  280), 
presumably  that  the  colony  might  be  handed  over  to  France 
free  of  all  incumbrances.  The  Westerners  were  wild  with 
excitement,  as  this  meant  the  practical  blocking  of  their  only 
route  to  the  markets  of  the  world.  Jefferson  at  once  directed 
Livingston  to  buy  the  strip  of  coast  extending  eastward  from 
the  Mississippi  and  including  New  Orleans.  He  also  ap 
pointed  Monroe  special  envoy  to  conduct  this  negotiation 


l8°3]      Questions  arising  out  of  the  Purchase       317 

and  other  important  business  with  foreign   governments.  Purchased 

Livingston  pressed  the  matter  on  the  attention  of  the  French  Jilted 

government,  but  without  avail.     Suddenly  Talleyrand,  who  states,  1803. 

was  once  again  foreign  minister,   inquired  if  he  wished  Winsor's 
to  buy  the  whole  of  Louisiana.     At  this  moment  Monroe  •yjj*]£jl 

reached  Paris.       The   Americans   had   no   instructions  to  48o;  Roose- 

acquire    this  vast   territory,    but  they  decided   to   exceed  velt's  West, 

•  11       r  j     IV,  ch.  vi; 

their   powers.       Negotiations  went   rapidly   forward,    and   schouler's 
they    concluded   a   treaty   by   which    the    United    States    United 
acquired   Louisiana  for  fifteen  million    dollars,   of  which   sta^  n» 
three  and  three  quarter  millions  were  to  be  used  to  pay 
claims  of  Americans  for  spoliations  committed  by  France 
since  1800.     Napoleon  is  said  to  have  declared  that  "this 
accession  of  territory  establishes  forever  the  power  of  the 
United  States,  and  gives  to  England  a  maritime  rival  des 
tined  to  humble  her  pride  ";  but  the  real  reason  for  Napo 
leon's  sudden  change  of  front  has  never  been  ascertained. 

228.    Questions  arising  out  of  the  Purchase.  —  Three  ques-   Constitu 
tions  of  great  importance  are  interesting  in  this  connection :   j     allty  ° 
(i)  the  constitutionality  of  the  measure,  (2)  the  limits__of   Johnston's 
Louisiana,  and  (3)  the  effect  of^  the  purchase  on  the  devel-    Orations, 
opment  of  the  United   States!     For  years  Jefferson   had   l>  l8o~2°4' 
proclaimed  that  under  the  Constitution  the  federal  govern 
ment  possessed  such  powers  only  as  were  expressly  delegated 
to   it   in    that  instrument.     By   no    possible   interpretation 
could  the  broadest  constructionists  have  found  the  power  to 
acquire  territory  even  implied  in  any  grant  of  power  in 
the  Constitution.     The  President  at  once  declared  that  the 
transaction  was  "an  act  beyond  the  Constitution,"  and  that 
an  amendment  would  be  necessary.     On  reflection,  how 
ever,  this  was  seen  to  be  impossible.     Many  things  might 
happen  before  an  amendment  could  be  adopted :  Napoleon 
might  change  his  mind,  or  the  British  might  seize  Louisiana, 
as  war  was  about  to  break  out  between  France  and  Great 
Britain.     The  treaty  was  ratified  as  it  stood,  and  Jefferson 
consoled  himself  with  the  thought  that  he  was  carrying  out 
"  the  will  of  the  people."   The  Federalists  thought  otherwise 


3 1 8  The  Jeffersonian  Republicans  [§  228 

and  opposed  ratification  with  all  the  means  at  their  com 
mand;  some  of  them  even  proposed  that  the  Federalist 
states  should  secede  from  the  Union. 

The  territory  ceded  by  France  was  described  in  the  treaty 
Limits  of  the  %  as  "the  colony  or  province  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same 
purchase.  extent  as  it  now  has  in  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had 
when  France  possessed  it,  and  such  as  it  should  be  after 
the  treaties  subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain  and 
other  powers."  These  were  the  terms  of  the  cession  by 
Spain  to  France,  and  more  definite  boundaries  could  not 
be  obtained  from  Barbe-Marbois,  the  French  negotiator  of 
the  treaty.  But  what  did  they  mean?  New  Orleans  was 
plainly  comprised  in  the  acquisition,  but  did  Louisiana,  as 
thus  described,  include  West  Florida,  which  the  govern 
ment  was  anxious  to  obtain,  and  Texas,  about  which  it  then 
cared  nothing?  The  United  States  immediately  asserted 
that  it  included  West  Florida,  but  to  this  assertion  Spain 
would  not  agree,  and  France  refused  to  interfere.  The 
orders  issued  by  the  French  government  when  it  expected 
to  take  possession  of  the  country  for  itself  have  been 
recently  discovered,  and  show  that  France  and  Spain  under 
stood  the  words  in  the  Treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso,  which  were 
used  in  the  cession  to  the  United  States,  to  exclude  West 
Florida  and  to  include  Texas. 

The  population  of  the  ceded  domain  numbered  about 
Effects  of  the  fifty  thousand,  of  which  more  than  one  half  were  negro 
slaves.  This  addition  of  a  new  center  of  slavery  must  be 
considered  as  a  disadvantage  outweighing  many  advantages, 
more  especially  as  the  slavery  of  Louisiana  resembled  that 
of  South  Carolina.  A  large  portion  of  the  territory  thus 
purchased  lay  west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian,  that  is, 
beyond  the  region  of  abundant  rainfall.  The  settlement 
of  this  region,  with  the  inevitable  result  of  recurring  failure 
of  harvests,  has  given  rise  to  many  problems  extremely 
difficult  of  solution.  But  when  all  has  been  said  in  its 
disfavor,  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  was  one  of  the  most 
Y.  fortunate  events  in  the  history  of  the  United  States. 


1804]  The   Twelfth  Amendment  319 

229.    The  Twelfth  Amendment,  1804.  — As  the  presiden 
tial  election  of  1804  drew  near,  the  leading  men  in  both 
parties  resolved  to  amend  the  Constitution  in  such  a  manner  change  in 
as  would  prevent  the  recurrence  of  another  scandal  similar   mode  of 
to  the  attempt  to  elect  Burr  President  in  1800.     The  result   president 
was  the  Twelfth  Amendment,  declared  in  force  in  1804.    Stanwood's 
The  old  machinery  of  presidential  electors  was  originally   El^ons> 
invented   to   lessen    the    supposed    ill    effects   of  popular  schouWs 
election,  and  to  give  a  less  democratic  cast  to  the  gov-    United 
ernment.      One  would  think  that  the  Republicans  would   states>  n>  6? 
have  seized  the  opportunity  afforded  by  revision  and  have 
discarded    such   an   aristocratic    institution.     Since    1804 
the  forces  of  democracy  have  completely  triumphed  over 
this  bit  of  constitutional  machinery,  —  not  an  elector  has 
voted  against  the  wishes  of  the  party  which  elected  him. 
This  device  made  it  easier,  however,  to  give  the  smaller 
states  a  share  in  the  election  of  the  highest  officers  in  the 
nation  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  population  or  impor- . 
tance.      The  great  change  brought  about  by  this  amend-'! 
ment  consisted  in  having  the  electors  vote  for  President ) 
and    Vice-President    on    separate    and    distinct    ballots,  i 
This  has  prevented  the  recurrence  of   scandals  like   that 
of    1800;    but    it   has  led   to  the  nomination  of    inferior 
men  to  the  second  place,    which  was  not   likely  to  have 
happened  under  the  older  system,   as  it  was  then  uncer 
tain   which  of    the   party's   candidates   would   be  chosen 
President.      The    amendment    further    provided    that    in 
case  no  candidate  for  the  Chief  Magistracy  should  receive 
a  majority  of    all  the   electoral  votes  qast  for  President, 
the   House  of    Representatives,   voting   by  states,    should 
elect  one  of  the  three  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  . 
(seep.  390). 

There  was  no  question  of  Jefferson's  election  in  1804:  Jefferson 
he  received  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  votes,  to  only  four-   re-elected. 
teen  given  to  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  the  Federalist  candidate   *stanwood's 
for  first  place;   even  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire   Elections, 
gave  their  votes  to  Jefferson.  45~s°' 


320 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans  [§  230 


Aaron  Burr. 


He  kills 
Hamilton. 


Burr's 
Conspiracy, 
1805-6. 
Roosevelt's 
West,  IV, 
ch.  vi ; 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  II, 

i33-!38. 
139-141. 


230.  Burr's  Conspiracy  and  Trial,  1804-1807.  —  Aaron 
Burr,  the  Vice- President,  had  aroused  the  resentment  of 
the  Republicans  by  his  dealings  with  the  Federalists  in 
1800.  George  Clinton,  another  New  York  Republican, 
was  put  forward  in  1804  as  Republican  candidate  for 
this  office,  and  was  elected.  Driven  from  the  Republican 
party,  Burr  had  allied  himself  with  the  Federalists  of  New 

England     and     had 

offered  himself  as  an 
independent  candi 
date  for  the  governor 
ship  of  New  York. 
He  was  defeated, 
owing  largely  to  the 
efforts  of  Hamil 
ton,  whom  he  now 
challenged  to  fight 
a  duel  and  killed  at 
the  first  shot.  Hamil 
ton's  untimely  death 
in  the  prime  of  man 
hood  aroused  the 
moral  sentiment  of 
the  people  of  the 
Northern  states  and 
put  an  end  to  duel 
ing  in  that  part  of 


Theodosia  Burr  the  country ;  it  made 

Burr  an  outcast  and 

impelled  him  to  undertake  a  most  desperate  venture.  It 
is  impossible  to  say  what  he  expected  to  accomplish  :  at 
one  time  he  seems  to  have  had  in  mind  the  founding  of  an 
empire  in  Texas  and  Mexico,  which  should  descend  to  his 
daughter,  Theodosia;  at  another  time,  the  venture  took  the 
shape  of  the  formation  of  a  new  republic  in  the  country 
west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Burr  gathered  arms,  ammunition, 
and  men  and  descended  the  Mississippi  towards  New 


1805]  Attacks  on  Neutral  Trade  321 

Orleans,  where  he  expected  to  receive  the  aid  of  General 
Wilkinson,  the  United  States  commander  in  Louisiana. 
For  some  time  Jefferson  took  no  notice  of  his  movements, 
but  finally  issued  a  proclamation  for  his  capture;  Wilkin 
son  hesitated  as  to  whether  he  should  betray  his  country 
or  his  friend,  and  in  the  end  decided  to  sacrifice  Burr. 
The  latter  abandoned  his  companions  and  endeavored  to 
escape  from  the  country  to  Spanish  Florida.  He  was 
captured  at  a  frontier  town  and  taken  to  Richmond  for 
trial  before  the  federal  Circuit  Court. 

John  Marshall,  the  Chief  Justice,  presided  at  the  trial.  Burr's  trial, 
Among  other  things,  he  ordered  the  President  to  attend  as  I8°7- 
a  witness  with  the  records  of  the  War  Department.  Jeffer 
son  refused  to  heed  the  summons,  but  offered  to  send  any 
papers  which  might  be  necessary.  Even  Federalist  writers 
condemn  this  action  of  Marshall.  The  trial  ended  abruptly, 
as  the  Chief  Justice  declared  that  an  overt  act  of  treason 
must  be  first  proved,  and  then  Burr  connected  with  it. 
The  Constitution  defines  treason  as  consisting  "only  in 
levying  war  against  them  [the  United  States],  or  in  adher 
ing  to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort."  Burr 
had  never  been  in  a  position  to  levy  war,  and  the  prosecu 
tion  for  treason  stopped  at  that  point;  nor  was  the  govern 
ment  able  to  convict  him  of  misdemeanor. 

231.    Attacks    on    Neutral    Trade,    1800-1808.  — Jay's   Relations 
treaty  had  fullv  justified  its  existence  by  securing  partial   with  Great 

™   •   •   u    u        -i-  A  •  Britain, 

immunity  from  British  hostility  to  American  commerce  jgoo-3 
during  the  struggle  between  Great  Britain  and  France  which 
ended  in  1802  by  the  conclusion  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens. 
During  this  time,  the  Americans  were  able  to  prosecute  a 
most  thriving  trade  with  the  Spanish  and  French  West 
Indies.  The  British  refused  to  permit  the  Americans  to 
carry  West  India  produce  from  the  Spanish  and  French 
islands  direct  to  Spain  and  France;  but  they  had  no  objec 
tion  to  such  commerce  when  pursued  indirectly  through 
some  United  States  port,  provided  the  foreign  goods  were 
landed  on  a  wharf  and  duty  paid.  Under  these  circum- 


322 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§232 


Change  in 
British 
policy,  1805. 


French  and 
British 
decrees  and 
orders, 
I 806- 10. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  II, 
151-160. 


stances  American  trade  flourished  greatly,  and  this  pros 
perity  continued  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  war  against 
Napoleon,  which  began  in  1804. 

This  successful  commerce  had  aroused  the  jealousy  of 
English  shipowners,  and  they  implored  the  younger  Pitt, 
who  was  now  Prime  Minister,  to  put  an  end  to  the  favors 
granted  America;  and  there  were  not  wanting  persons  to 
argue  that  the  action  of  the  Americans  was  so  beneficial 
to  England's  enemies  as  to  be  "war  in  disguise."  Pitt 
decided  to  enforce  the  "Rule  of  War  of  1756"  (p.  277) 
to  the  letter,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  all  American  trade  to 
the  West  Indies.  The  British  vessels  made  seizures  right 
and  left,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Great  Britain  practically 
began  war  against  the  United  States  (1805). 

The  conflict  between  Great  Britain  and  Napoleon  had 
now  reached  a  point  where  it  seemed  impossible  for  the 
leading  combatants  to  attack  one  another :  Napoleon  was 
supreme  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  Britain  was  undis 
puted  mistress  of  the  seas.  The  belligerents  thereupon 
endeavored  to  injure  one  another  indirectly:  but  the  real 
sufferers  during  this  later  time  were  the  American  ship 
owners,  whose  vessels  were  almost  the  only  neutral  ships 
on  the  ocean. 

232.  Decrees  and  Orders,  1806-10. — Napoleon  began 
the  contest  by  closing  the  recently  captured  ports  of  Ham 
burg  and  Bremen  to  British  commerce,  thus  cutting  off  a 
profitable  trade  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany.  The 
British  government  retaliated  by  declaring  a  blockade  of 
the  coast  of  the  continent  from  Brest  to  the  Elbe  (May  16, 
1806),  which  was  enforced  only  between  the  Seine  and 
Ostend.  Napoleon  replied  to  this  by  the  issue  of  the 
Berlin  Decree  (November  21,  1806),  declaring  the  British 
Islands  to  be  "in  a  state  of  blockade."  He  also  forbade 
all  trade  in  British  goods  throughout  the  lands  under  French 
control,  which  soon  included  all  of  continental  Europe 
except  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Turkey. 

Jay's  treaty  was  about  to  expire  by  limitation,  and  it  was 


1806]  The  Impressment  Controversy  323 

found  impossible  to  induce  the  British  government  to  enter  Treaty  with 

into  a  new  agreement  on  a  reasonable  basis.     On  December  Great 

.     ...  Britain,  1806. 

i,  1806,  Monroe  and  William  Pmkney  signed,  on  behalf  Winsor-s 

of  the  United  States,  a  new  treaty,  which  contained  many  America, 

stipulations  dishonorable  to  their  country,  among  them  a  VII-48o. 
provision  that  the  "Rule  of  War  of  1756"  would  not  be 


enforced  in  respect  to  goods  upon  which  a  two  per  cent  ad 
valorem  duty  had  been  paid,  on  condition  that  no  part  of 
the  duty  had  been  returned  as  a  "drawback."  Neither 
impressment  of  American  seamen  nor  indemnity  for  Brit 
ish  seizures  were  mentioned.  Furthermore,  the  American 
negotiators  consented  to  receive  a  note  to  the  effect  that 
the  British  government  would  not  consider  itself  bound  by 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty  unless  the  United  States  would 
resist  the  enforcement  of  the  Berlin  Decree  !  Jefferson  sent 
the  treaty  back  to  Great  Britain  without  formally  laying  it 
before  the  Senate. 

Early  in  the  next  year  (January  7,  1807)  the  British  gov-   British 
ernment  issued  an  Order  in  Council  closing  to  neutral  com-   Orders  in 
merce  the  ports  of  the  continent,  save  those  limited  regions   jg^"01 ' 
that  were  not  under  French  control.     Later  (November 
n,  1807),  another  Order  in  Council  authorized  the  seizure 
of  any  neutral  vessel  while  on  a  voyage  to  any  of  the  closed 
ports,  unless  such  vessel  had  first  touched  at  a  British  port. 
In  the  Milan  Decree,  Napoleon  retorted  by  authorizing 
the  seizure  of  any  vessel  that  had  entered  a  British  port 
(December  17,  1807).     As  the  British  controlled  the  ocean 
and  Napoleon  the  continent  of  Europe  these  decrees  meant 
the  destruction  of  the  American  carrying  trade.    With  Great 
Britain,  moreover,  the  United  States  had  another  cause  of 
grievance, —  the  controversy  as  to  impressment. 

233.  The  Impressment  Controversy,  1793-1807. — The  American 
contest  with  France  had  hardly  opened  in  1793  ere  British  naturaiiza- 
naval  captains  began  stopping  American  vessels  on  the  high 


324  The  Jeffersonian  Republicans  [§  233 

seas,  and  taking  seamen  from  them  for  service  in  the 
British  navy.  Some  of  the  sailors  impressed  in  this  manner 
were  subjects  of  the  British  crown,  but  many  more  were 
men  who  had  given  up  their  allegiance  to  Britain,  and 
had  become  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United  States 
or  of  some  one  state.  Moreover,  it  was  impossible  to 
distinguish  an  Englishman  from  a  native-born  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  many  Americans  were  impressed, 
notwithstanding  their  statements  as  to  the  place  of  their 
birth.  As  the  war  progressed,  the  British  practically  block 
aded  the  more  important  American  ports  and  removed 
seamen  from  outgoing  vessels  before  they  had  lost  sight  of 
The "  right  land-  Two  very  important  questions  at  onct,  arose :  the 
of  search."  "  right  of  search  "  and  the  value  of  naturalization  papers. 

The  American  government  denied  the  right  of  foreign 
cruisers  to  stop  American  vessels  on  the  high  seas  for  any 
purpose  whatsoever  except  to  ascertain  their  nationality. 
This  position  the  United  States  maintained  forever  after 
wards  (pp.  413,  503).  But  Great  Britain  paid  no  heed  to 
the  American  protests.  The  American  system  of  naturali 
zation  was  based  on  acts  of  Parliament:  the  first  of  these, 
which  was  passed  in  1740,  provided  that  foreign  Protestants 
residing  in  the  colonies  for  seven  years  and  taking  certain 
oaths  should  enjoy  full  civil  rights  in  the  colonies  and 
many  important  privileges  in  Britain  itself :  the  colonial 
assemblies,  too,  had  passed  acts  for  the  naturalization  of 
foreigners  in  the  several  colonies,  oftentimes  after  a  very 
brief  period  of  residence,  and  the  British  government  had 
not  repealed  or  disallowed  these  acts.  The  naturalization 
system  of  the  United  States  in  1807  was  a  reproduction  of 
this  colonial  system,  with  the  important  exception  that 
there  was  no  longer  a  religious  qualification.  The  British 
authorities,  however,  would  not  recognize  it  as  in  any  way 
lessening  the  allegiance  due  from  a  British-born  person  to 
the  British  crown.  There  was  undoubtedly  some  justifica 
tion  for  the  view  British  officers  held  as  to  naturalization; 
for  in  some  states  it  was  only  necessary  for  a  deserter 


l8°7]  Jefferson's  Embargo  Policy  325 

from  an  English  ship  to  appear  before  the  official  in  charge 
of  the  matter  in  order  to  receive  naturalization  papers. 
Under  these  circumstances,  whole  crews  deserted,  and 
many  vessels  were  detained  in  port  in  consequence.  The 
real  cause  of  these  desertions  was  to  be  found  in  the  hard 
ships  of  the  British  naval  service,  —  the  lack  of  good 
food  and  quarters,  the  harshness  of  the  discipline,  and  the 
low  rate  of  wages  paid  to  the  sailors.  These  hardships 
were  so  great  that  the  British  seamen  preferred  to  expatri 
ate  themselves  rather  than  serve  on  British  men-of-war. 
The  British  government,  however,  was  not  prepared  to  take 
this  view  and  preferred  to  press  British  seamen  wherever 
found. 

234.    The  Outrage  on  the  Chesapeake,  1807.  —  The  mat-  The 
ter  reached  a  crisis  on  June  27,  1807,  when  the  British  ship 
Leopard  fired  on  the  American  frigate  Chesapeake,  boarded  Leopard 
her,  and  removed  from  her  decks  three  American  citizens   1807. 


and  one  British  subject.     Jefferson  at  once  issued  a  procla- 
mation  ordering  all  British  war  vessels  out  of  the  waters  of   states, 
the  United  States,  and  forbidding  any  intercourse  with   n-  l6s; 
them  or  the  furnishing  them  with  any  supplies.     He  also   ^^'a^S 
demanded  redress,  but  attempted  to  couple  with  the  Chesa-  305-311'. 
peake  outrage   the  whole  question  of  impressment.     The 
British  authorities,  on  their  part,  disavowed  the  admiral  by 
whose  orders  the  outrage  had  been  committed,  but  refused 
to  give  up  impressment.     While  affairs  were  in  this  critical 
condition,  the  Order  in  Council  of  November,  1807,  was 
issued.     It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  such  a  question  should 
have  been  made  the  basis  of  party  action,  yet  the  Federal 
ists   denounced   the  President's  proclamation  as  favoring 
the  French,  and  the  Northern  merchants  protested  against 
anything  being  done  that  savored  of  hostility  to  Great 
Britain. 

235.  Jefferson's  Embargo  Policy,  1807,  1808.  —  In  April, 
1806,  at  the  time  of  the  enforcement  of  the  "  Rule  of  War  of 
1756,"  Congress  had  passed  an  act  forbidding  the  importa 
tion  of  goods  from  Great  Britain  or  the  British  colonies  after 


326 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§235 


The 

embargo, 

1807. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  II, 

178-199- 


The  Enforce 
ment  Act, 
1808. 


November  1 5,  of  that  year.  This  limit  was  further  extended, 
and  the  prohibition  did  not  go  into,  effect  until  December, 
1807.  By  that  time,  however,  Jefferson  deemed  sterner 
measures  necessary,  and  recommended  an  embargo.  Con 
gress  at  once  fell  in  with  the  President's  wishes  and  passed 
an  act  forbidding  American  vessels  to  leave  the  ports  of  the 
United  States  for  foreign  ports,  and  prohibiting  foreign  ves 
sels  to  sail  except  with  the  cargo  actually  on  board.  Embar 
goes  were  no  new  thing  in  the  history  of  the  United  States; 
they  had  hitherto  been  for  limited  periods  and  had  been 
regarded  as  precursors  of  war,  although  no  war  had  fol 
lowed  (p.  300).  The  policy  of  commercial  restriction  had 
been  often  used  with  great  effect,  as  at  the  time  of  the 
Stamp  Act  and  the  Townshend  duties  (p.  154).  Able 
and  far-seeing  men,  as  Sir  John  Seeley  and  Edward 
Atkinson,  have  recognized  the  fact  that  commerce,  so  far 
from  making  for  peace  among  mankind,  has  been  the  cause 
of  many  of  the  great  struggles  of  modern  days.  Jefferson's 
idea  was  to  revive  the  policy  of  the  Revolutionary  epoch 
and  to  put  a  pressure  on  Great  Britain  and  France  by 
restricting  their  dealings  with  the  United  States.  But  cir 
cumstances  were  changed :  the  American  people  were  no 
longer  united,  as  they  had  been  in  the  earlier  time;  and  it 
proved  to  be  impossible  to  enforce  the  embargo  policy  in 
America.  Even  the  Enforcement  Act  of  1808  proved  of 
little  value.  This  act  required  the  owners  of  coasting 
vessels  before  the  cargo  was  placed  on  board  to  give  bonds 
to  six  times  the  value  of  the  vessel  and,  if  necessary,  obliging 
them  to  land  the  goods  in  the  United  States.  This 
requirement  indicates  one  method  of  evasion  of  the 
Embargo  Act,  by  vessels  clearing  for  a  coastwise  port  and 
then  sailing  to  a  foreign  port.  Another  clause  of  the 
Enforcement  Act  was  designed  to  prevent  the  evasion 
of  the  law  by  carrying  goods  overland  to  Canada  or  New 
Brunswick.  This  section  authorized  collectors  of  customs 
to  seize  goods  "in  any  manner  apparently  on  their  way 
toward  the  territory  of  a  foreign  nation  or  the  vicinity 


1807]  Effects  of  the  Embargo  327 

thereof."  Even  this  severe  measure  could  not  secure  the 
enforcement  of  the  embargo;  it  led,  however,  to  resistance 
to  federal  authority  on  Lake  Champlain  and  threatened  to 
lead  to  more  formidable  armed  resistance  in  New  England. 

236.    Effects   of  the   Embargo.  —  It  is   difficult  to   say  Effect  of  the 
precisely  what   effect   the  embargo  had,   either  at  home   emba'g° 
or  abroad.     It  probably  hastened  a  commercial  crisis  in   Britain^ 
Great  Britain,  which  would  have  occurred  had  there  been 
no  embargo.     This  crisis  affected  the  working  classes  of 
Britain,  but  as  they  had  no  political  power  their  wishes  for 
a  change  in  England's  commercial  policy  passed  unheeded. 
The  rulers  of  Britain  regarded  the  embargo  as  rather  bene 
ficial  to  her  interests,  inasmuch  as  it  operated  to  weaken 
the  Republican  party  in  the  North  and  to   increase  the 
strength  and  energy  of  the  Federalists. 

Napoleon  welcomed  it  and  made  it  the  excuse  for  two  On  France, 
more  decrees:  one  of  them,  issued  at  Bayonne  (1808), 
directed  the  seizure  of  all  American  vessels,  on  the 
ground  that  no  ship  flying  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
could  legally  navigate  the  seas;  the  other  decree,  issued  at 
Rambouillet  (1810),  ordered  the  confiscation  of  vessels 
then  in  French  hands. 

In  America,  the  embargo  pressed  heavily  on  Jefferson's  On  America, 
political  supporters,  the  tobacco  planters  of  Virginia,  as 
large  portions  of  their  tobacco  crops  were  unsalable. 
Many  planters  were  ruined;  others  were  seriously  crippled. 
The  shipowners  of  New  England  and  the  Middle  states  saw 
their  ships  lying  idle  when  rates  of  freights  were  at  the 
highest  point.  They  evaded  the  law  as  long  as  they  could, 
and  at  length,  when  forced  to  desist,  they  turned  their  atten 
tion  to  manufacturing.  From  a  constitutional  and  political 
point  of  view,  the  embargo  worked  a  positive  benefit,  as 
the  attempts  to  enforce  it  compelled  the  Republicans  to 
resort  to  the  implied  powers  under  the  Constitution,  and 
to  adopt  almost  the  ground  occupied  by  the  Federalists 
in  1 798,  which  Jefferson  and  Madison  had  so  strongly  con 
demned  in  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions.  By 


328 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§237 


Non- 
intercourse 
Act,  1809. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  II, 
207-219. 


January,  1809,  it  was  evident  that  to  avoid  civil  strife  the 
embargo  policy  must  be  abandoned.  Madison  had  mean 
time  been  elected  President  (November,  1808),  and  to  him 
Jefferson  confided  the  initiation  of  a  new  policy. 

237.  The  Non-intercourse  Act,  1809. — In  February, 
1809,  it  became  known  that  Madison  was  in  favor  of  a 
removal  of  the  embargo  in  the  following  June;  but  no 


James  Madison 

sooner  was  the  subject  of  repeal  brought  forward  in  Con 
gress,  than  it  was  decided  to  repeal  the  embargo  law  at 
once.  In  its  place  was  substituted  a  non-intercourse  law. 
This  would  still  prohibit  commerce  with  Great  Britain  and 
France,  but  would,  on  the  other  hand,  permit  it  with  the 
few  countries  not  under  the  control  of  either  of  the  bel 
ligerents.  The  new  policy,  which  was  a  better  method 
of  carrying  out  Jefferson's  commercial  theories,  went  into 
operation  on  the  day  of  Madison's  inauguration,  March 
4,  1809.  Instantly,  there  was  a  great  revival  in  the  carrying 
trade;  for,  although  Russia  had  now  joined  France  in  the 


1809] 


The  Erskine   Treaty 


329 


continental   system,    Spain   and    Portugal   were    now   free. 
This  period  witnessed  a   complete  breaking  down   of  the 
ordinary   rules    of   international   and    commercial   honesty. 
Napoleon  gave  licenses  without  number  to  British  vessels  to 
bring  goods  sorely  needed  by  his  soldiers  into  continental 
ports,  while  American  papers,  forged  for  the  purpose,  and 
also     British     protections, 
were  openly  sold  in  London. 
The  neutrals  profited  most 
by  this  reign  of  commer 
cial    distress    and    corrup 
tion  ;  the  gains  of  American 
shipowners  were  enormous, 
although  American  vessels 
were     constantly    captured 
by  the  belligerents. 

238.  The  Erskine  Treaty, 
1809.  —  At  first,  fortune 
appeared  about  to  smile  on 
Madison  ;  a  new  British 
minister,  Mr.  Erskine,  ap 
peared  at  Washington,  and 

concluded  a  treaty  obliging  Great  Britain  to  withdraw  the 
Orders  in  Council.  Madison  thereupon  suspended  non- 
intercourse  with  Great  Britain.  But  Erskine  had  exceeded 
his  instructions ;  the  British  government  disavowed  him, 
refused  to  ratify  the  treaty,  and  Madison  was  obliged  to 
proclaim  a  renewal  of  non-intercourse  with  that  country. 
The  next  British  envoy  was  named  Jackson.  He  proceeded 
to  insult  Madison,  accusing  him  of  having  deceived  Erskine, 
and  repeated  the  accusation.  Madison  declined  to  com 
municate  further  with  him  and  sent  him  home. 

On    May  i,    1810,    Congress    substituted    for   the    Non-    Macon's 
intercourse  Act  a  modified    commercial  policy,  which  was   Bill>  No-  2- 
contained  in  a  bill  known  as  Macon's  Bill,  No.  2,  from  the 
name  of  the  member  who  introduced  it.     This  law  provided 
for  the  immediate  cessation  of  non-intercourse  ;  but  in  case 


Mrs.  Madison 


Treaty  with 

Great 

Britain,  1809. 

Schouler's 

United 

States, 


330 


The  Jeffersonian  Republicans 


[§239 


The 

President 
and  Little 
Belt. 
Maclay's 
Navy,  I,  314. 


Cause  of  the 
War  of  1812. 
Johnston's 
Orations, 
I,  205-215. 


one  of  the  belligerents  should  revoke  his  decrees  or  orders, 
and  the  other  should  not,  non -intercourse  should  be  pro 
claimed  against  the  refractory  country.  Both  France  and 
Great  Britain  promised  to  change  their  policy  as  soon  as  the 
other  changed  his.  But  that  was  all  they  would  do.  So 
the  offensive  decrees  and  orders  continued,  and  so,  too,  did 
non-intercourse. 

239.  Declaration  of  War,  1812.  —  In  the  gathering  gloom 
of  a  May  evening  ( 1 8 1 1 ) ,  the  American  frigate  President 
and  the  British  sloop  of  war  Little  Belt  found  themselves 
near  together.  Owing  to  some  mischance,  not  now  clearly 
discernible,  they  fired  on  each  other,  and  the  Little  Belt 
was  badly  crippled.  This  affair  induced  the  American 
people  to  feel  more  kindly  about  the  Chesapeake  outrage, 
and  reparation  was  accepted  without  a  settlement  of  the 
whole  question  of  impressment,  which  in  this  way  remained 
to  keep  alive  a  spirit  of  resentment  toward  the  British 
nation.  Another  cause  of  ill  feeling  was  the  ever-recurring 
Indian  troubles  in  the  West,  some  of  which  were  plainly 
traceable  to  British  intrigues.  The  most  formidable  of 
these  was  a  revolt  set  on  foot  by  an  energetic  Indian  chief 
named  Tecumthe  or  Tecumseh,  who  had  formed  a  strong 
Indian  federation.  Gathering  a  small  force  of  regulars, 
and  volunteers  from  among  the  settlers  of  the  West,  Wil 
liam  Henry  Harrison  marched  to  the  principal  Indian  town 
on  Tippecanoe  River  and  inflicted  a  crushing  defeat  on  the 
Indians  (1811).  Tecumthe  joined  the  British,  and  thus 
justified  the  suspicions  of  the  Western  settlers. 

Another  cause  of  the  approaching  conflict  was  the  tone  of 
self-satisfied  superiority  with  which  the  British  government 
and  people  were  accustomed  not  merely  to  look  upon  the 
American  people,  but  to  speak  of  them,  and  even  to  address 
representatives  of  the  United  States  government.  For 
example,  Lord  Liverpool,  at  the  moment  Prime  Minister, 
declared  in  1813  from  his  place  in  Parliament  that  America 
"  ought  to  have  looked  to  this  country  as  the  guardian  power 
to  which  she  was  indebted  not  only  for  her  comforts,  not 


1812]  Declaration  of  War  331 

only  for  her  rank  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  but  for  her 
very  existence."  The  impressment  controversy  was  now 
at  its  height,  and  British  hostility  to  American  commerce 
was  as  keen  as  ever.  Bearing  all  these  things  in  mind,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  United  States  declared  war 
against  Great  Britain  ;  it  is  indeed  remarkable  that  the 
outbreak  of  hostilities  was  postponed  until  1812. 

The  declaration   of  war  was  the  work  of  a  new  set  of    Declaration 
political   leaders,  whose  influence  for  good  or  evil  was  to  of  war>  l812' 
dominate  American  politics  for  the  next  forty  years.     Fore 
most  among  them  was  Henry  Clay,  born  in  Virginia,  but   Henry  Clay. 
now  living  in  Kentucky  ;    perhaps  no  American   politician   Schouler's 
has  ever  had  a  more  faithful  band  of  followers  or  has  ever  states, 
shown  worse   judgment.     Henry  Clay  entered   the   House    11,372; 
of  Representatives  for  the  first  time  in  1811,  and  was  at 
once   elected   Speaker.     Another   of   the   newcomers   was 
John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina  ;  at  this  period  he  was   John  C. 
an  ardent  advocate  of  nationalization  and  of  devoting  the   Calhoun. 
federal  resources  to  the  promotion  of  the  general  welfare  of 


the  people,  —  especially,  he  advocated  a  policy  of  protection    (S.  S.). 
to  "  young  industries."    Subsequently,  he  became  the  cham 
pion  of  the  other  side,  and  by  his  fearlessness  and  power 
fully  logical  faculties  set  forth  the  cause  of  state's  rights  in 
the  clearest  and  most  forcible  manner.     Two   years  later, 
Daniel  Webster  of  New  Hampshire,  the  third  of  this  group,    Daniel 
entered  Congress.  Webster. 

Clay  represented  the  unrest  of  the  Western  people  and  |Jy££ 
their  desire  for  the  conquest  of  Canada.  With  the  aid  of  (S.  s.)  ; 
other  new  men,  he  forced  from  the  reluctant  President  his  Schouler's 

United 

consent  to  a  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain.     It   states, 
is   said    that   Madison  was    given    to   understand    that   his    Hi,  298. 
renomination  for  the  presidency  depended  on  his  agreeing 
to  this  policy  ;  it  is  certain  that  he  was  drawn  into  the  con 
flict  against  his  wishes  ;  but  the  New  England  Federalists 
always  called  it  "  Mr.  Madison's  War." 


332  Questions  and  Topics 

SUGGESTIVE   QUESTIONS   AND    TOPICS 
§§  213-222.    THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1800 

a.  What  relations  can  you  trace  between  the  American  Revolution, 
the  French  Revolution,  and  the  "Revolution  of  1800"? 

b.  What  means  did  the  American  people  take  "  to  elevate  the  intel 
lectual  and  material  position  of  the  average  citizen"? 

c.  How  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that  the  white  population  in 
creased  much  more  rapidly  in  the  free  states  than  in  the  slave  states? 

d.  What  is  meant  by  saying  that  "  the  American  people  came  into 
existence  "  in  the  period  extending  from  1800  to  1829  ? 

e.  What  are  the  two  most  important  stocks  of  the  human  race? 
Name  the  chief  branches  of  the  Aryan  stock,  and  the  principal  con 
tributions  to  civilization  made  by  each. 

f.  Where  besides  in  America  have  important  amalgamations  of  Ger 
manic  and  Keltic  races  taken  place?     What  complementary  qualities 
do  these  two  races  possess? 

g.  Has   any  other  material  force  so  controlled  the  history  of  the 
United  States  as  cotton  ? 

§§  223-226,  229-230.  DOMESTIC  AFFAIRS 

a.  Read  and  compare  the  first  inaugurals  of  Washington,  Jefferson, 
and  Lincoln. 

b.  Place  as  heading  in  note-book  "  Spoils  System  and  Civil  Service 
Reform."     Who  began  the  system  of  partisan  appointments  ? 

c.  How  does  the  Constitution  define  treason  ?     Define  as  precisely 
as  you  can  the   following  phrases:   "levying  war,"  "against  them," 
"their  enemies,"  "  adhering  to,"  "aid  and  comfort."     Can  one  of  the 
United  States  be  guilty  of  treason  ?     Is  civil  war  treason  ? 

d.  Look  up  the  history  of  Massachusetts   1800-15:   do  you  regard 
it  as  creditable?     Give  your  reasons. 

§§  227-228.  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE 

a.  Sketch  the  ownership  of  Louisiana  under  the  following  heads: 
discovery,  settlement,  cession  of  1763,  "right  of  deposit,"  retrocession 
to  France. 

b.  Why  were  the  Federalists  opposed  to  the  Louisiana  Purchase  ? 
Discuss  the  effects  of  the  purchase  upon  the  West,  the  South,  the  East, 
the  general  government. 

c.  Does  the   "  general  welfare  "   clause  empower  the   federal  gov 
ernment  to  acquire  territory?     Under  what  clause  of  the  Constitution 
can  you  find  such  power  ? 


Questions  and  Topics  333 

§§  231-239.   FOREIGN  RELATIONS 

a.  State  the  specific  purpose  of  each  hostile  commercial  ordinance 
of  the  two  belligerents. 

b.  Describe  Great  Britain's  impressment  policy.     What  reasons  can 
you  suggest   for  her  refusal   to    recognize    the    validity    of  American 
naturalization  papers  ? 

c.  The  embargo  :   discuss  its  constitutionality;    its  effect  on  constitu 
tional  development.     What  industrial  revolution  did  it  forward  in  New 
England  ? 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

a.    Make   all    necessary  changes  in  your   maps,  and   justify  these 
changes  by  recitation. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Mention,  with  some  account  of  their  contents,  the  chief  political 
documents  of  this   epoch   (1783-1812).     Give  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
careers  of  their  authors. 

b.  Subjects  for  reports  based  on  secondary  material:   (i)  What  is 
the  relation  between  the  growth  of  manufacturing  enterprises  and  the 
growth  of  cities  ?     (2)   Compare  the  factory  agitation  in  England  with 
the  emancipation  movement  in  America.     (3)  Thomas  Jefferson:  his 
personal  influence  over  his  official  advisers,  over  Congress ;    contrast 
his  theoretical  language  and  his  practical  conduct  ;   discuss  his  honesty, 
his  statesmanship  ;    describe  his  influence  in  retirement  and  the  influ 
ence  of  his  name.      (4)  John  Marshall:  his  career;   instances  of  col 
lision  between  the  Judiciary  and  the  Executive;   the  cases  which  form 
epochs  in   constitutional   history;    (5)   trace   the  history  of  free   and 
slave  territory  to   1819. 

c.  Compare    the   momentous   changes   in   the  political  life  of  the 
United  States  between  1801  and  1809. 


As  preparation  for  the  next  two  chapters  study  the  following 
questions: 

a.  Taxation :  arguments  for  and  against  direct  taxation  ;  should 
direct  taxation  be  levied  on  capital,  on  income,  or  on  expenditure? 
should  the  same  percentage  be  levied  on  all  equal  amounts?  what 
forms  of  indirect  taxation  are  the  most  eligible?  give  Mill's  seven 
practical  rules  for  indirect  taxation;  under  which  class  does  excise 
come?  customs  duties?  is  it  desirable  to  defray  extraordinary  public 
expenses  by  loans?  state  reasons. 


334  Questions  and  Topics 

b.  Look  up  in  Mill's  Political  Economy  the  passage  which  says  that 
protection  may  be  justifiable  under  certain  conditions,  and  apply  it  to 
the  United  States  in  1816,  1824,  1833,  1842,  1857,  1861,  and  1897. 

c.  Place  in  note-book  the  two  headings,  "  Protection,"  "  Free-trade," 
and  enter  fitting  matter  under  them  as  you  proceed. 

d.  Read  Fawcett's  Free-trade  and  Protection  and  Hoyt's  Protection 
vs.  Free-trade,  and  compare  the  arguments. 


CHAPTER    IX 

WAR  AND   PEACE,  1812-1829 

Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings. — Johnston's  American  Politics,  77-108;  Hig- 
ginson's  Larger  History,  365-442;  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union, 
203-262;  Walker's  Making  of  the  Nation,  230-273. 

Special  Accounts.  — Schouler's  United  States  ;  Wilson's  Presidents  ; 
*Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History;  *H.  Adams's  United  States; 
Morse's  /.  Q.  Adams  (S.  S.) ;  Gay's  James  Madison  (S.  S.) ;  Von 
Hoist's  John  C.  Calhoun  (S.  S.)  ;  Lodge's  Daniel  Webster  (S.  S.) ; 
Sumner's  Andrew  Jackson  (S.  S.);  Taussig's  Tariff  History  ;  Larned's 
History  for  Ready  Reference.  Larger  biographies  of  the  leading  states 
men,  Guide,  §  25. 

Sources. — Writings  of  the  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §§  32,33. 
Benton's  Abridgment;  Williams's  Statesman's  Manual;  Johnston's 
American  Orations ;  Young's  Customs- Tariff  Legislation;  Taussig's 
State  Papers ;  Stedman  and  Hutchinson,  Library  of  American  Lit 
erature ;  MacDonald's  Documents. 

Maps.  —  Mac  Coun's  Historical  Geography ;  Hart's  Epoch  Maps, 
Nos.  7,  8,  10,  n;  Winsor's  America;  Walker's  Statistical  Atlas; 
Scribner's  Statistical  Atlas. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  S^  a,  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  172-179  (Topics  and  References). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  *McMaster's  United  States;  Lossing's 
Field- Book  of  the  War  of  1812  ;  Armstrong's  War  of  1812  ;  Roose 
velt's  Naval  War  of  1812 ;  Maclay's  United  States  Navy ;  Coop 
er's  United  States  Navy ;  James's  Naval  History  of  Great  Britain; 
Coggeshall's  American  Privateers  ;  Goodrich's  Recollections;  Sullivan's 
Familiar  Letters ;  J.  Q.  Adams's  Diary;  Bishop's  American  Manu 
factures;  King's  New  Orleans;  Barnes's  Yankee  Ships. 

Hildreth's  The  Slave;  Longstreet's  Georgia  Scenes;  Paulding's 
Lay  of  the  Scottish  Fiddle  ;  Freneau's  Poems. 

WAR   AND   PEACE,   1812-1829 

240.  Nature  of  the  Conflict. — Perhaps  no  conflict  has 
ever  been  undertaken  with  so  little  thought  as  to  the  means 

335 


336 


War  and  Peace 


[§240 


Lack  of 
preparation 
for  war. 


of  carrying  it  to  a  successful  termination  as  the  War  of  1812. 
The  excise  tax  of  the  Federalist  period  had  been  repealed 
and  nearly  all  the  income  of  the  government  was  derived 
from  the  customs  revenue,  which  at  once  dwindled  as 
imports  declined.  At  first,  Congress  was  unwilling  to  aug 
ment  this  diminishing  revenue  by  imposing  direct  taxes; 
but  in  1813  the  increasing  pressure  of  the  war  overcame 
even  Republican  scruples,  and  Congress  imposed  direct 
taxes  on  such  articles  as  furniture  and  watches,  and  even 
on  slaves.  Congress  also  levied  an  excise.  The  war  cost 
from  thirty  to  forty  millions  for  each  year  that  it  was  waged; 
but  the  total  revenue  never  exceeded  ten  millions  per  year. 
These  deficits  had  to  be  made  good  by  borrowing.  As  the 
war  progressed,  the  credit  of  the  government  constantly 
declined,  until  finally  loans  were  effected  at  far  below  their 
face  value. 

The  military  forces  were  very  ineffective.  The  Republi 
cans  had  steadily  opposed  keeping  up  an  efficient  military 
organization.  The  war  was  very  unpopular  in  the  North, 
whence  most  of  the  soldiers  and  money  were  necessarily 
drawn,  as  that  was  the  more  populous  and  the  richer  portion 
of  the  country.  This  dislike  of  the  war  appeared  when  the 
government  endeavored  to  summon  the  militia  to  take  part 
in  the  invasion  of  Canada.  The  Constitution  authorized 
Congress  to  "provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  "  for  three 
specific  purposes :  "  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  sup 
press  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions."  The  governors 
of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New  Hampshire  refused 
to  send  militia  out  of  their  respective  states,  and  the  gov- 
ernor  of  Vermont  recalled  the  Vermont  militia  when  it  was 
sent  outside  of  the  limits  of  the  state.  The  old  difficulty 
(p.  200)  of  enlisting  men  in  the  regular  army  for  the  war 
or  for  a  term  of  years  at  once  recurred.  Bounties  were 
offered  in  vain,  and  even  the  enlistment  of  minors,  without 
their  parents'  consent,  was  resorted  to.  Had  the  contest 
continued  much  longer,  resort  would  probably  have  been 
had  to  a  draft.  In  these  circumstances  it  was  fortunate 


1812] 


British  Defeat  at  New  Orleans 


337 


that  the  British  prosecuted  the  war  but  feebly  during  the 
years  1812  and  1813. 

241.  Campaigns  of  1812-14. — The  invasion  of  Canada 
was  begun  with  an  ignorance  and  contempt  of  the  necessi 
ties  of  the  campaign  that  augured  ill  for  success.     It  ended 
in  failure  (1812).     On  the  other  hand,  the  victory  of  the 
Americans  under  Commodore  Oliver  H.  Perry,   on  Lake 
Erie  (1813),  made  impossible  an  English  occupation  of 
American  territory,  and    left    the    combatants   practically 
where  they  were  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities. 

The  campaign  of  1814  was  much  more  vigorously  man 
aged  by  both  combatants.  On  the  American  side  abler 
men  came  to  the  front.  One  of  them  was  Jacob  Brown,  a 
New  York  militia  general,  who  had  been  bred  a  Quaker,  as 
had  Nathanael  Greene.  He  had  never  seen  service  in  the 
field,  but  possessed  energy  and  courage;  and  he  was  ably 
assisted  by  his  subordinates,  Winfield  Scott  and  Eleazer 
Ripley.  He  accomplished  nothing  in  the  way  of  conquest, 
but  repelled  all  attempts  at  invasion  in  his  part  of  the  field. 
Indeed,  one  of  the  battles  of  his  campaign,  Lundy's  Lane, 
where  a  small  body  of  Americans  withstood  the  onslaught 
of  a  body  of  British  veterans,  was  a  most  creditable  affair, 
especially  as  it  occurred  in  the  darkness,  which  is  peculiarly 
trying  to  soldiers  who  have  not  had  years  of  experience. 
The  British  undertook  a  counter  invasion  of  the  United  States 
by  way  of  Lake  Champlain;  but  McDonough's  victory  gave 
the  control  of  the  lake  to  the  Americans,  and  the  British 
retired  to  Canada  (1814). 

The  summer  that  saw  this  victory  witnessed  also  the 
disgraceful  flight  of  the  Americans  from  Bladensburg,  and 
the  unjustifiable  burning  of  the  public  buildings  at  Wash 
ington  by  the  British  under  General  Ross  and  Admiral 
Cochrane.  A  subsequent  attack  on  Baltimore  was  gallantly 
repelled  by  its  American  defenders,  with  considerable  loss 
to  the  assailants. 

242.  The  British  Defeat  at  New  Orleans,  1814,  1815.  — 
By  this  time  it  had  become  evident  that  British  success  in 


Invasion  of 

Canada, 

1812-13. 

Winsor's 

America, 

VII,  382-385, 

387-392 ; 

Maclay's 

Navy,  I, 

492-520. 

Failure  of 

British 

invasion, 

1814. 

Winsor's 

America, 

VII,  393- 

400; 

Schouler's 

United 

States, 

1 I,  397,  446. 


Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  396; 
Maclay's 
Navy,  II, 
27-39. 


Burning  of 

Washington, 

1814. 

Winsor's 

America, 

VII,  400-402, 


338 


War  and  Peace 


[§243 


New 

Orleans, 
1814-15. 
Winsor's 
America, 
403-404 ; 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  II, 
457,  485-491- 


New 
Orleans, 
1814-15. 
King's  New 
Orleans, 
ch.  xi. 


The  navy. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  378; 
Roosevelt's 
Naval  War 
0/1812; 
Maclay's 
Navy,  I, 

317-575. 
II,  1-82. 


the  interior  of  the  North  was  uncertain  until  the  control 
either  of  the  Great  Lakes  or  of  Lake  Champlain  was  in 
their  hands.  The  capture  of  New  Orleans  offered  the  best 
chance  of  permanent  conquest :  it  was  within  reach  of  the 
sea,  was  far  removed  from  the  thickly  settled  part  of  the 
United  States;  and  its  possession  would  give  the  British 
important  and  far-reaching  influence  in  the  whole  Missis 
sippi  valley.  Pakenham,  one  of  Wellington's  Peninsular 
commanders,  was  given  a  formidable  body  of  troops  and 
ordered  to  attempt  its  capture;  with  him  co-operated  a 
large  naval  force. 

The  command  of  the  defense  of  the  lower  Mississippi 
and  neighboring  regions  was  confided  to  Andrew  Jackson 
of  Tennessee.  At  first  he  seems  to  have  misjudged 
Pakenham 's  purpose,  and  delayed  preparations  for  defense 
until  it  was  almost  too  late.  At  last,  when  he  was  con 
vinced  that  the  British  general  designed  to  seize  New 
Orleans,  he  made  every  possible  preparation  to  repel  the 
attack ;  in  this  he  was  greatly  aided  by  the  peculiarities  of 
the  country  around  New  Orleans,  which  will  be  described 
when  we  reach  Farragut's  capture  of  that  city  (p.  503). 
Pakenham  attacked  vigorously,  though  with  small  military 
skill;  he  was  repulsed  with  great  loss  to  his  army.  The 
last  assault  on  the  defenses  of  New  Orleans  was  made  on 
January  8,  1815,  two  weeks  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty 
of  peace  at  Ghent.  A  month  later  (February  n,  1815), 
the  British  captured  an  American  fort  on  Mobile  Bay,  their 
only  success  during  this  arduous  campaign. 

243.  The  War  on  the  Sea,  1812-15.  —  On  the  land,  where 
their  numbers  gave  them  an  advantage,  the  Americans  were 
on  the  whole  unsuccessful;  on  the  water,  where  their  guns 
were  outnumbered  one  hundred  to  one,  they  won  successes 
which  still  render  the  War  of  1812  memorable  in  naval 
annals.  At  the  beginning  of  the  conflict,  the  British  navy 
comprised  over  one  thousand  vessels,  of  which  two  hun 
dred  were  line  of  battle  ships  of  two  or  three  decks;  there 
was  not  even  one  two-decker  in  the  United  States  navy. 


1812]  The    War  on  the  Sea  339 

Moreover,  the  American  vessels  were  not  merely  inferior  in 
size  to  the  British,  there  were  very  few  of  them, —  seven 
teen  vessels  in  all.  Three  of  them,  the  United  States, 
Constitution,  and  President,  were  large,  heavy  frigates  rated 
as  "forty-fours,"  and  there  were  also  four  smaller  frigates 
and  several  sloops  of  war  and  brigs. 

The  government  deemed  it  unwise  to  send  these  vessels  Naval 
to  sea  to  be  captured  by  the  fleets  of  Great  Britain,  and  whSs 
decided  to  use  them  as  guard  ships  at  the  principal  ports.  America, 
A  difficulty  at  once  presented  itself,  however,  for  the  ves-  vii,  379-382, 
sels  were  not  in  the  ports  designed  for  them;  and  it  was  3 
necessary  to  send  them  to  sea  to  enable  them  to  perform  even 
this  limited  duty.  Among  the  first  to  leave  port  was  the 
Constitution,  commanded  by  Captain  Hull.  On  her  way 
from  the  Chesapeake  to  New  York  harbor,  her  designated 
place  of  duty,  she  was  sighted  by  a  British  squadron  of  five 
ships  and  chased  from  July  17  to  July  20.  In  the  end, 
Hull  saved  his  ship  and  found  refuge  at  Boston.  Sailing 
thence,  with  no  new  orders,  he  cruised  about  for  two 
weeks,  until  August  19,  when  he  sighted  the  British  frigate 
Guerriere  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  The  combat  which 
followed  has  been  made  the  subject  of  so  much  apology 
on  the  part  of  British  writers  that  it  is  well  to  bear  in 
mind  the  comparative  size  of  the  two  ships.  Mr.  Henry 
Adams  thus  states  the  facts  in  his  authoritative  History  of 
the  United  States  during  the  Administrations  #/ Jefferson  and 
Madison.  The  American  frigate  was  one  hundred  and 
seventy-three  feet  long  and  forty-four  feet  wide;  she  car 
ried  thirty-two  "  long  24*5  "  and  twenty  "32  Ib."  carronades, 
or  fifty-two  guns  in  all.  Her  sides  were  very  solid  for  a 
ship  of  her  class,  but  notwithstanding  the  extra  weight  she 
was  very  fast.  The  Guerriere  was  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  feet  long  and  forty  feet  wide;  she  carried  thirty  "long 
i8's,"  two  "long  i2's,"  and  sixteen  "32  Ib. "  carronades,  or 
forty-eight  guns  in  all.  She  was  not  so  strongly  built  as 
her  opponent,  nor  so  fast,  and  she  threw  a  much  lighter 
broadside.  Both  Captain  Hull  of  the  Constitution  and 


34°  War  and  Peace  [§  243 

Captain  Dacres  of  the  Guerriere  were  skillful,  brave  men, 
and  the  crews  of  both  ships  were  well  trained,  although  the 
Guerriere's  crew  had  been  longer  together.  In  thirty 
minutes  after  the  first  gun  was  fired,  the  British  frigate  lay 
helpless  on  the  water,  with  seventy-nine  of  her  crew  killed 
or  wounded.  The  Constitution,  on  the  other  hand,  suffered 
trifling  loss  or  damage,  and  was  ready  for  another  combat. 
On  October  17  the  American  sloop  of  war  Wasp  met  the 
British  brig  Frolic.  The  Wasp  threw  a  lighter  broadside 
than  the  Frolic,  and,  although  rigged  as  a  ship,  was  only 
six  feet  longer.  In  forty-three  minutes  after  the  beginning 
of  the  combat,  the  Frolic  was  a  wreck,  with  ninety  of  her 
crew  of  one  hundred  and  ten  killed  and  wounded.  In  both 
cases  the  result  was  due  to  the  superior  practice  of  the 
American  gunners  and  to  the  fact  that  the  charges  of  powder 
used  by  the  British  were  less  than  those  used  by  the  Ameri 
cans  for  guns  of  the  same  caliber.  It  is  said  that  shot  from 
the  Guerriere  rebounded  harmlessly  from  the  sides  of  the 
Constitution,  and  the  guns  of  the  Frolic,  more  than  equal 
in  weight  to  those  of  the  Wasp,  produced,  comparatively 
speaking,  no  impression  on  her  antagonist. 

Effects  of  The  effect  of  these  victories  was  tremendous.     For  a 

rieT6  V1Ct°"  century  and  a  nalf  the  British  had  enjoyed  undisputed 
supremacy  on  the  ocean;  ship  for  ship,  they  had  encoun 
tered  the  navies  of  France  and  Spain,  and  had  been  almost 
uniformly  successful.  Instead  of  seeking  the  true  cause  for 
these  defeats,  in  the  light  armaments  of  their  vessels  and 
in  the  character  of  their  impressed  crews,  the  British  public 
magnified  the  Constitution  into  a  "line  of  battle  ship  in 
disguise,"  and  suggested  that  in  future  it  would  be  best 
for  British  frigates  to  sail  in  company.  There  were  many 
other  naval  actions  during  the  contest  which  are  described 
at  length  in  the  histories  of  the  war  and  need  not  be  men 
tioned  here.  As  the  conflict  progressed,  the  blockade  of 
the  American  ports  became  closer  and  closer;  few  of  the 
national  vessels  gained  the  open  sea,  and  those  that  did 
were  gradually  captured.  In  the  later  years,  the  privateers 


1 8 14]  The  Privateers  34 l 

almost  alone  displayed  the  flag  of  the  United  States  on  the 
ocean. 

244.  The  Privateers.  — Mr.  Henry  Adams  has  suggested   The 
that  it  would  have  been  better  policy  for  the  United  States 

to  have  used  the  national  vessels  to  destroy  the  merchant 
vessels  of  England.  Men-of-war  capturing  British  mer 
chantmen  would  have  destroyed  them;  the  privateers,  whose 
interest  was  to  make  money  from  the  sale  of  prizes,  sent 
them  home,  and  about  one  half  were  recaptured.  As  it 
was,  the  privateersmen  dealt  a  terrible  blow  to  Britain's 
commerce.  In  the  course  of  the  war  they  captured  more 
than  two  thousand  five  hundred  British  vessels,  some  of 
them  within  sight  of  the  coast  of  England.  Rates  of  insur 
ance  on  British  vessels  rose  to  almost  prohibitory  figures, 
even  for  the  shortest  voyages.  English  merchants  and  ship 
owners  whose  self-seeking  had  largely  contributed  to  bring 
on  the  war,  now  besought  the  government  to  conclude 
peace ;  to  this  end  McDonough's  victory  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain  powerfully  contributed. 

245.  Negotiations  for  Peace,  1812-14.  —  From  an  inter-   Mistaken 
national  point  of  view,  the  War  of  1812  was  a  terrible  mis- 
fortune.    Great  Britain  was  then  engaged  in  a  deadly  struggle 

with  the  military  despotism  that  threatened  to  overwhelm 
popular  freedom  wherever  it  existed  in  the  world.  No  doubt 
Napoleon  had  dealt  a  beneficial  blow  to  feudal  institutions, 
but  he  had  already  done  all  the  good  that  he  was  likely  to 
do  in  that  way.  In  1812  the  cause  of  humanity  and  civili 
zation  demanded  his  overthrow.  True  policy  dictated  the 
alliance  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  to  destroy 
the  master  despot  of  the  age.  Instead  of  joining  together 
against  the  common  enemy,  they  came  to  blows,  but  this  was 
the  fault  of  Britain's  rulers,  not  of  the  American  people. 

Four  days  after  the   declaration  of  war  against  Great  The  Czar 
Britain,    Napoleon   and    the    Czar   renewed    their   former   intervenes. 
enmity,  because  Russia  would  no  longer  close  the  Baltic   America 
ports  to  neutral  commerce.     The  Czar  at  once  offered  to   VII,  483. 
mediate  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  whose 


342 


War  and  Peace 


[§246 


Negotiations 
for  peace, 
1814. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  484-487. 


Treaty  of 
Ghent,  1814. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  II, 
477-485. 


conflict  could  not  fail  to  weaken  the  opposition  of  the 
former  to  Napoleon.  Madison  grasped  at  the  proffered 
good  offices  of  Russia,  and  appointed  commissioners  to 
represent  the  United  States;  but  Great  Britain  would  not 
accept  this  mediation.  The  British  government  could  not 
afford  to  appear  unmindful  of  the  wishes  of  the  Czar,  its 
most  powerful  ally  against  Napoleon,  and  announced  its 
willingness  to  negotiate  directly  with  the  United  States; 
but  it  was  not  sincere  in  its  desire  for  peace,  and  the 
commissioners  did  not  come  together  until  the  summer  of 
1814.  The  Americans  were  five  in  number;  among  them 

were  Albert  Gallatin,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  son  of  John 
Adams,  and  Henry  Clay.  To 
the  absence  of  Clay  from  Congress  has  been  attributed 
much  of  the  extraordinary  imbecility  of  that  body  during 
this  period. 

It  is  likely  that  the  British  government  chose  this  moment 
to  begin  negotiations  in  the  expectation  that  the  successes 
of  her  armies  in  1814  would  induce  the  Americans  to  cede 
to  Great  Britain  a  strip  of  territory  south  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Brown's  energetic  defense  of  the  posts  on  those  lakes,  and 
the  collapse  of  the  invasion  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain, 
put  an  abrupt  ending  to  these  hopes,  and  the  British  negotia 
tors  were  ordered  to  conclude  the  treaty  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  treaty  was  signed  at  Ghent  on  December  24,  1814, 
before  the  fate  of  Pakenham's  expedition  was  known,  and 
even  before  the  conflict  which  usually  goes  by  the  name  of 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans  had  taken  place. 

246.  The  Treaty  of  Ghent,  1814.  — The  treaty  provided 
for  a  restoration  of  conquests  by  both  parties,  and  for  the 
appointment  of  commissions  to  arrange  the  outstanding 
boundary  disputes  between  the  two  powers  and  to  settle 
some  other  matters  of  difference.  The  important  issues 
which  led  up  to  the  war  were  not  even  mentioned  in  the 
treaty  of  peace.  The  Orders  in  Council  had  been  with 
drawn  before  the  conflict  began,  and  the  rights  of  neutrals 


1 8 14]  Treaty  of  Ghent  343 

had  ceased  to  be  an  issue  of  vital  moment  since  the  fall  of 
Napoleon.  The  successes  of  the  American  cruisers  had 
contributed  materially  toward  the  settlement  of  the  ques 
tions  of  impressment,  the  right  of  search,  and  blockades; 
they  never  again  became  serious  in  the  sense  that  they 
were  before  1812.  The  British  commissioners  at  Ghent 
had  contended  that  the  fishery  privileges  accorded  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  in  the  treaty  of  1783  had  ter-  - 
minated  the  moment  war  had  broken  out  between  the  two 
nations.  The  Americans  declared,  on  the  contrary,  that 
the  articles  in  that  treaty  relating  to  the  fisheries,  having 
once  gone  into  operation,  were  not  affected  by  a  subse 
quent  war,  any  more  than  were  the  provisions  relating  to 
boundaries.  On  the  other  hand,  they  argued  that  the 
clause  in  the  earlier  treaty,  granting  the  free  use  of  the 
Mississippi  to  British  subjects  (p.  229),  had  ceased  to 
operate  the  moment  war  began.  As  no  agreement  could 
be  reached  on  these  points,  further  consideration  of  them 
was  deferred  until  a  more  convenient  opportunity.  The 
news  of  the  conclusion  of  peace  and  of  Jackson's  victory 
at  New  Orleans  reached  Washington  at  almost  the  same 
moment.  The  Republican  party  at  once  regained  its  former 
place  in  the  people's  esteem.  To  this  consummation  also 
the  Federalists  strongly  contributed  by  a  most  inopportune 
display  of  hostility  to  the  administration  and  to  its  policy. 

247.  The  Hartford  Convention,  1814,  1815.  —  Six  days  Discontent 
before  Jackson  repelled  Pakenham's  last  assault  at  New  in  New 
Orleans,  the  Hartford  Convention  adjourned.  To  under- 
stand  this  movement,  we  must  examine  at  some  length  the 
course  pursued  by  Massachusetts  during  the  war.  In  the 
first  place,  it  must  be  understood  that  New  England  had 
borne  its  full  share  in  the  conflict,  notwithstanding  the 
great  unpopularity  of  the  war  in  that  section  and  the  con 
test  over  the  militia.  To  make  this  fact  clear,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  compare  the  parts  borne  by  Virginia 
and  by  Massachusetts.  The  latter  contained,  according  to 
the  census  of  1810,  about  seven  hundred  thousand  inhabit- 


344  War  and  Peace  [§  247 

ants;  Virginia  is  credited  in  the  same  census  with  nine 
hundred  and  seventy  thousand  inhabitants,  of  whom  five 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  were  negro  slaves.  In  accord 
ance  with  the  federal  ratio  (p.  238),  Virginia  sent  to  Con 
gress  twenty-three  members,  Massachusetts  twenty.  The 
latter  state  furnished  four  times  as  much  money  for  the 
support  of  the  conflict  as  Virginia,  and  contributed  more 
men  to  the  armies  of  the  United  States  during  the  \var  — 
apart  from  sailors  on  national  vessels  and  in  privateers  — 
than  did  the  states  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  South 
Carolina  combined.  On  the  other  hand,  the  government 
withdrew  its  garrisons  from  the  Massachusetts  seaboard  forts 
and  harassed  what  was  left  of  her  commerce  with  an  em 
bargo. 

Opposition  The  leading  men  of  New  England  had  no  confidence  what 
ever  in  the  Southern  and  Western  politicians  who  guided 

1513-14.  '  tne  policy  of  the  government.  They  felt  keenly  the  slights 
put  upon  New  England,  and  resented  the  acts  of  the  admin 
istration,  many  of  which  were  of  doubtful  constitutionality, 
to  say  the  least.  They  had  recourse  to  the  precedents  of 
pre-revolutionary  times,  and  followed  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party  in  1798-99.  The 
legislatures  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  passed  laws 
directly  in  conflict  with  the  act  of  Congress  provid 
ing  for  the  enlistment  of  minors,  and  subjected  to  fine 
and  imprisonment  those  engaged  in  carrying  the  law  into 
practice.  On  February  18,  1813,  a  committee  of  the 
Massachusetts  legislature  reported  that  "the  sovereignty 
reserved  to  the  states  [in  the  Constitution]  was  reserved  to 
protect  the  citizens  from  acts  of  violence  by  the  United 
States.  .  .  .  We  spurn  the  idea  that  the  sovereign  state  of 
Massachusetts  is  reduced  to  a  mere  municipal  corporation. 
.  .  .  When  the  national  compact  is  violated,  and  the 
citizens  of  the  state  are  oppressed  by  cruel  and  unauthor 
ized  law,  this  legislature  is  bound  to  interpose  its  power 
and  wrest  from  the  oppressor  its  victim."  The  campaign 
of  1814  brought  no  relief  to  New  England;  the  British, 


1815]  Results  of  the    War  345 

who  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  war  had  forborne  to  attack 
that  section,  now  waged  active  hostilities  on  the  New  Eng 
land   coast.     They  seized   the    eastern   towns    in   Maine, 
levied  contributions  on  many  seaboard  places,  and  bom 
barded  Stonington  in  Connecticut.     October  of  that  year 
found  the  New  Englanders  in  a  sterner  frame  of  mind  than 
before.     The  legislature  of  Massachusetts  suggested  that  a 
conference  of  delegates  of  the  New  England  states  should 
be   summoned,   to   propose    such   measures  as  were   "not 
repugnant  to  their  obligations  as  members  of  the  Union." 
The  conference,  or  convention,  as  it  was  ordinarily  termed,    The 
was  held  at  Hartford  (December,  1814,  to  January,  1815).    Hartford 
It  adopted  resolutions  suggesting  that  the  New  Englanders   jg^-ie 
should   be    permitted    to   defend    themselves   and    should   Schouier's 
therefore  retain  a  reasonable  portion  of  the  federal  taxes    United 

States,  II, 

assessed  upon  them.      It  also  suggested  certain   amend-  469-476. 
ments  to  the  Constitution,  and  laid  down  the  constitutional 
doctrines  applicable  to  the  matter  in  language  which  must 
have  sounded  most  unpleasantly  familiar  to  Jefferson  and 
Madison: 

"  In  cases  of  deliberate,  dangerous,  and  palpable  infrac 
tions  of  the  Constitution,  affecting  the  sovereignty  of  a  state 
and  liberties  of  the  people;  it  is  not  only  the  right  but  the 
duty  of  such  a  state  to  interpose  its  authority  for  their  pro 
tection.  .  .  .  When  emergencies  occur  which  are  .  .  . 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  judicial  tribunals,  .  .  .'  states 
which  have  no  common  umpire  must  be  their  own  judges 
and  execute  their  own  decisions"  (compare  p.  286). 

It  was  often  the  fate  of  the  Federalist  party  to  propose 
action  either  too  early  or  too  late.  The  commissioners 
sent  to  Washington  to  arrange  for  a  reasonable  division  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  federal  taxes  reached  the  capital  to  find 
peace  declared.  They  hastened  home  amid  the  jeerings 
of  the  Republican  press. 

248.    Results  of  the  War. — The  war  cost  the  American   Cost  of  the 
people  the  lives  of  thirty  thousand  men,  and  as  many  more   war- 
were  wholly  or  partly  incapacitated  from  leading  happy, 


346 


War  and  Peace 


[§249 


Results  of 
the  war. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  II, 

492, 501 ; 

Johnston's 
Orations,  I, 
219. 


New 

economic 

conditions. 


vigorous  lives.  The  national  debt  rose  by  leaps  and 
bounds,  until  in  1816  it  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  million  dollars;  about  one  hundred  millions 
of  this  sum  was  an  absolute  increase  of  the  debt.  The 
actual  money  cost  of  the  war  was  much  greater,  and  was 
probably  not  less  than  two  hundred  million  dollars.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  account,  there  was  absolutely  nothing 
material  to  show  for  this  great  expenditure  of  human  life, 
this  amount  of  human  suffering,  and  this  mass  of  treasure. 

Indirectly  and  unconsciously  there  was  a  gain  not  to  be 
measured  in  human  lives  or  in  dollars:  the  American  people 
ceased  to  be  provincial  and  began  to  appreciate  its  oneness, 
it  began  to  feel  and  to  act  as  a  nation.  Before  this  time 
American  politics  had  been  dominated  by  European  poli 
tics, —  there  had  been  British  parties  and  parties  favoring 
France.  The  War  of  1812,  and  the  economic  changes 
consequent  on  the  restoration  of  peace  in  Europe,  com 
pletely  changed  these  conditions.  Northern  capitalists 
competing  with  the  manufacturers  of  Britain  forgot  their 
former  friendships;  on  the  other  hand,  the  cotton  planters 
of  the  South  found  in  the  British  manufacturers  their  best 
customers;  they,  too,  became  forgetful  of  their  former 
hatred  of  all  things  British.  Furthermore,  the  pressure  of 
the  conflict  compelled  the  federal  government  to  adopt 
measures  which  even  Hamilton  would  have  feared  to  sug 
gest,  while  the  Federalists,  soon  to  disappear  as  a  party, 
became  the  champions  of  strict  construction.  In  this  way 
democracy  and  nationalism  grew  together.  The  War  of 
1812  has  been  often  and  truly  called  the  Second  War  of 
Independence,  which  should  be  understood  to  mean  not 
merely  independence  of  other  nations,  but  of  the  conditions 
of  colonial  life. 

249.  Altered  Industrial  Conditions,  1816.  —  On  the  return 
of  peace  it  at  once  became  evident  that  new  economic  forces 
had  come  into  existence.  These  new  factors  in  national 
progress  were  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  on  the  course 
of  politics  and  to  determine  the  positions  to  be  assumed 


i8i6]  Early   Tariff  Legislation  34*7 

by  political  leaders.     It  will  be  well  to  consider  this  subject 
with  some  care. 

During  the  period  of  commercial  restriction  and  of  war, 
the  Northern  capitalists  had  been  obliged  to  find  new  means 
of  employment  for  their  idle  funds,  which  could  no  longer  be 
profitably  invested  in  the  shipping  interests.  They  turned 
their  attention  to  manufacturing  enterprises  and  established 
the  textile  industries  of  the  North.  As  soon  as  peace  was 
concluded,  British  manufacturers  sought  to  regain  their 
former  profitable  markets  in  the  United  States.  They  sent 
immense  quantities  of  goods  to  the  American  ports,  and  the 
Northern  manufacturers  saw  the  markets  for  their  cottons, 
woolens,  and  iron  rapidly  slipping  from  them.  They  could 
not  return  to  the  shipowning  industry  to  advantage,  as  the 
general  peace  which  now  prevailed  brought  their  vessels 
into  competition  with  those  of  all  the  maritime  nations  of 
Europe.  They  appealed  to  Congress  for  aid  in  the  shape 
of  a  protective  tariff,  which  would  preserve  the  home  market 
to  them.  One  result  of  this  appeal  was  the  Tariff  Act  of 
1816.  A  more  important  outcome  of  this  change  in  the 
economic  development  of  the  country  was  the  extinction 
of  the  Federalist  party.  It  was  now  powerless  to  aid  the 
Northern  mill  owners  in  securing  the  requisite  legislation; 
they  turned  for  aid  to  the  Republicans,  and  the  Federalist 
party,  abandoned  in  the  house  of  its  friends,  disappeared 
as  a  political  organization. 

250.  Early  Tariff  Legislation,  1789-1815.  — The  act  for  Protection, 
raising  revenue,  passed  in  1789,  had  for  one  object  "the  1789-1815. 
protection  of  manufactures,"  but  the  rates  levied  in  that 
act  were  too  low  to  give  an  effective  impulse  to  young 
industries.  It  should  also  be  said  that  the  country  was  not 
then  prepared  for  the  establishment  of  manufacturing  enter 
prises  on  an  extended  scale.  Subsequent  acts  had  increased 
the  rates  of  taxation  on  imports,  and  had  thereby  given 
added  protection.  This  was  especially  true  of  a  law  passed 
in  1812  for  doubling  all  the  duties;  but  these  later  acts 
were  designed  to  provide  revenue  —  whatever  protection 


348 


War  and  Peace 


[§251 


Growth  of 
manufac 
turing 
industries, 
1800-15. 


Calhoun  and 
Webster  on 
protection. 


they  afforded  was  incidental.  The  embargo  and  non-inter 
course  laws  had  also  operated  to  give  protection,  and  so 
had  the  high  rates  of  freight  which  the  commercial  policy 
of  Great  Britain  and  France  made  inevitable.  The  War  of 
1812  had  added  to  the  encouragement  afforded  by  these 
earlier  restrictions  on  commerce,  and  in  1815  the  textile 
industries  of  the  North  may  be  considered  to  have  been 
established. 

251.  Growth    of    Textile    Industries,    1800-15. — The 
development  of  the  manufacture  of  cotton  was  extraordi 
nary.     In   1803   there  were   four  cotton  factories   in  the 
country;  five  years  later  there  were  fifteen  mills,  with  eight 
thousand  spindles.     By  1811  the  number  of  spindles  had 
increased  tenfold,  to  eighty  thousand,  and  in  1815  there 
were  five  hundred   thousand  spindles  in  operation.     The 
home  consumption  of  cotton  tells  the  same  story  of  rapid 
growth:  in  1800  American  manufacturers  used  five  hun 
dred  bales;  in  1815  they  consumed  ninety  thousand  bales.  . 
The  question  which   came   before   Congress  in  1816  was 
whether  this  rapidly  growing  industry  should  be  crushed  by 
foreign  competition  or  should  be  permitted  to  live.     If  the/ 
latter  course  commended  itself  to  Congress,  the  best  way 
to  secure  it  was  to  lay  so  heavy  a  duty  on  foreign  cotton 
cloth  that  its  importation  would  be  unprofitable. 

The  case  was  somewhat  the  same  as  to  the  woolen  and 
iron  industries,  although  the  story  of  their  rise  is  not  so 
striking  as  that  just  related  of  the  cotton  manufacture. 

252.  Tariff  Act  of  1816.  — Congress  was  still  controlled 
by  the  politicians  who  had  urged  on  the  declaration  of  war 
in  1812.     At  this  period  in  his  career  Calhoun  was  in  favor 
of  a  strong  nationalizing  policy.     "  Let  us  make  great  per 
manent  roads  ...    for  ...  defense  and  connecting  more 
closely  the  interests  of  various  sections  of  this  great  coun 
try,"  he  said  in  1816,  and  he  strongly  advocated  protection 
"to   encourage  .  .  .  domestic   industry."     Even  Jefferson 
declared  that  the  manufacturer  and  the  agriculturist  must 
stand  side  by  side.     On  the  other  hand,  Webster,  represent- 


i8i6j  Monroe's  Administrations  349 

ing  the  shipping  interests  of  Boston,  strongly  opposed  pro 
tection,  and  John  Randolph  sounded  an  unheeded  note  of 
warning  when  he  declared  that  the  proposed  tariff  would 
bear  heavily  "upon  poor  men  and  slaveholders." 

The  act  as  it  was  passed  (April  27,  1816)  imposed  a  duty   Tariff  Act  of 
of  about  twenty  per  cent  on  all  cotton  and  woolen  goods   I8l6< 
imported  from  abroad,  and  specific  duties  on  salt  and  iron 
imported.     In   addition,   "  the   minimum   principle "  was 
adopted.      This   provided   that   no   duty   on   cotton    and 
woolen  goods  should  be   less  than  six   and  one  quarter 
cents  per  yard.     As  this  rate  was  far  more  than  twenty-five 
per  cent  of  the  price  of  coarse  fabrics  which  were  worn 
by  slaves  in  the  South,  the  tariff  bore  with  great  hardship 
on  the  Southern  slaveholders.    ^  - 

253.  Monroe's  Administrations,  1817-25.  —  In  1816  a  Monroe 
presidential  election  was  held.  Following  the  example  set 
by  Washington  and  Jefferson,  Madison  declined  to  be  a  I8l6 
candidate  for  a  third  term,  and  James  Monroe  of  Virginia 
was  elected  President.  In  earlier  life  Monroe  had  been 
an  advanced  democrat,  but  his  ardor  had  cooled.  He  had 
forgotten  many  of  Jefferson's  early  teachings,  and  had 
become  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  much  in  favor  of  building 
up  a  strong  central  government  as  any  Federalist  had  been. 
As  a  diplomatist,  Monroe  had  served  long  abroad,  but 
had  not  gained  great  success;  in  1806  he  had  put  his 
name  to  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain  which  Jefferson  would 
not  even  submit  to  the  Senate  (p.  323).  Monroe  had 
then  retired  into  private  life,  from  which  he  had  come 
at  Madison's  request  to  take  the  position  of  Secretary  of 
State.  During  the  War  of  1812,  he  had  shown  unexpected 
strength ;  he  had  resisted  unwise  popular  demands  and 
had  risen  above  the  position  of  the  ordinary  party  chief. 
He  was  a  man  eminently  fitted  to  lead  the  nation  in 
the  peaceful  times  which  were  now  approaching.  Party 
spirit  declined,  and  Monroe  was  re-elected  President 
in  1820  with  only  one  vote  lacking,  that  withheld  by 
a  New  Hampshire  elector  who  was  determined  —  so  the 


350 


War  and  Peace 


[§254 


Policy  of 
nationaliza 
tion. 


Marshall's 
decisions. 


story   goes  —  that  Washington    should   be    the    only   man 
unanimously  elected  to  the  presidency. 

254.  The  Policy  of  Nationalization.  —  Monroe  fell  in 
with  the  popular  demand  for  nationalization,  for  protec 
tion,  and  for  public  improvements.  The  Tariff  Act  of  1816 
had  been  passed  with  the  aid  of  votes  from  all  sections  of 
the  country.  The  new  leaders  of  the  Republican  party 

adopted  the  preva 
lent  ideas  of  nation 
alization,  and  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  a 
series  of  remarkable 
decisions,  prepared 
the  way  for  the  carry 
ing  out  of  the  new 
policy.  One  of 
these  decisions  was 
given  by  Chief  Jus 
tice  John  Marshall, 
in  the  case  of  Mc- 
Culloch  vs.  Mary 
land.  The  case  arose 
out  of  the  attempt  of 
the  state  of  Maryland 
to  tax  the  Second 
United  States  Bank, 
which  was  chartered 
James  Monroe  in  1816.  In  deliver 

ing   the  decision  of 

the  court,  the  Chief  Justice  said  in  substance:  A  national 
bank  is  an  appropriate  means  to  carry  out  some  of  the 
implied  powers 
conferred  on  the 
national  govern 
ment  by  the  Con 
stitution.  If  the  end  is  within  the  scope  of  the  Constitution, 
all  means  which  are  plainly  adapted  to  that  end,  and  which 


i8i6J  The  Policy  of  Nationalization  35 J 

are  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  organic  law,  are  consti 
tutional.  A  similar  course  of  reasoning  would  have  upheld 
the  constitutionality  of  the  tariff  and  perhaps  internal  im 
provements  as  well.  In  other  decisions  the  Supreme  Court 
greatly  restricted  the  functions  of  the  states,  as  in  the  case 
of  Fletcher  vs.  Peck  and  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case, 
where  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  (Art.  i,  §  10)  forbidding 
the  states  to  pass  any  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  con 
tracts  was  held  to  mean  that  the  state  of  Georgia  could  not 
revoke  grants  of  land  fraudulently  obtained,  and  that  the 
state  of  New  Hampshire  could  not  modify  a  charter  granted 
to  a  corporation  before  the  Revolution.  In  these  and  other 
decisions,  the  power  of  the  states  was  greatly  diminished, 
and  that  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  measure  increased. 

This  great  increase  of  authority  to  the  national  govern-  Settlement  of 
ment  and  the  complete  change  of  attitude  of  the  dominant  the  West-  / 
party  on  questions  of  interpretation  of  the  Constitution,  was  \  / 
due  in  part  to  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  West.  Six  states 
were  admitted  to  the  Union  between  1816  and  1821,  of 
which  five  were  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  one  of  them, 
Missouri,  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Westerners  desired 
better  means  of  transport,  and  looked  to  the  general  govern 
ment  to  construct  roads  and  canals  and  to  improve  rivers 
and  harbors;  they  desired,  too,  to  have  some  of  their  prod 
ucts  protected,  as  hemp  and  wool.  One  of  Madison's  last 
acts  as  President  had  been  to  veto  a  bill  devoting  fifteen 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  which  the  Second  United  States 
Bank  paid  for  its  charter,  to  the  construction  of  roads  and 
canals  and  the  improvement  of  rivers.  Madison,  like 
Jefferson,  favored  internal  improvements;  but,  like  Jeffer 
son,  he  believed  them  to  be  beyond  the  powers  conferred 
on  the  general  government  by  the  Constitution;  an  amend 
ment  would  be  necessary  to  make  such  acts  legal.  Monroe 
took  a  similar  view,  and  in  1822  vetoed  a  bill  for  the  repair 
of  the  Cumberland  road,  which  had  been  built  out  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  public  lands.  In  the  next  year  (1823)  the 
first  step  was  taken  in  the  appropriation  of  money  by  Con- 


352 


War  and  Peace 


Relations 
with  Great 
Britain, 
1815-18. 


Commercial 
convention, 
1815. 


Treaty  of 
1818. 
Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  489. 


gress  for  the  improvement  of  harbors,  but  the  matter  did 
not  assume  important  proportions  until  after  the  close  of 
Monroe's  second  term. 

255.  Relations  with  Great  Britain,  1815-18.  —  The 
Treaty  of  Ghent  had  ended  the  war  with  Great  Britain, 
but  it  had  left  many  important  questions  to  be  decided  by 
future  negotiations.  These  were  at  once  begun.  The 
British  government,  although  not  in  precisely  a  concilia 
tory  frame  of  mind,  was  more  reasonable  than  it  had  ever 
been  before.  In  1815  it  consented  to  a  commercial  con 
vention  which  opened  a  portion  of  the  British  West  India 
trade  to  American  vessels;  the  convention  also  contained 
an  important  provision  designed  to  secure  the  abolition  of 
discriminating  duties  and  charges  in  either  country  against 
the  vessels  and  goods  of  the  other.  This  arrangement  was 
limited  to  four  years,  but  was  extended  for  ten  years  longer 
in  1818.  In  the  latter  year  an  important  treaty  was  nego 
tiated  in  regard  to  the  fisheries  and  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States.  With  regard  to  the  fisheries,  the 
United  States  consented  to  give  up  some  of  its  rights  under 
the  treaty  of  1783;  Great  Britain,  on  her  part,  recognized 
the  remainder  as  being  permanent  in  character;  she  also 
gave  up  her  rights  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  northern  boundary  was  to  follow  the  forty-ninth  par 
allel  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Rocky  or  Stony 
Mountains,  as  they  were  then  termed.  The  United  States 
in  this  way  abandoned  a  small  portion  of  Louisiana  and 
acquired  a  valuable  bit  of  territory  in  the  basin  of  the  Red 
River  of  the  North.  (Map  No.  IV.)  As  to  Oregon,  or 
the  region  lying  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
Pacific,  north  of  the  Spanish  possessions  in  California,  no 
agreement  as  to  division  could  be  reached.  It  was  arranged, 
therefore,  that  both  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
should  occupy  it  jointly  for  ten  years. 

An  attempt  was  also  made  to  come  to  some  conclusion 
in  regard  to  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade;  but 
agreement  was  impossible,  owing  to  the  divergent  ideas  of 


i8i8]  Relations  with  Spain  353 

the  two  governments  as  to  the  "right  of  search,"  since 
the  United  States  refused  to  permit  British  men-of-war  to 
stop  and  search  vessels  flying  the  American  flag. 

256.    Relations  with  Spain,  1810-19.  —  It  will  be  remem-    Relations 
bered  that  the  desire  of  the  United  States  to  acquire  West  *g^paini 
Florida  and  New  Orleans  had  brought  about  the  Louisiana   winsor's 
Purchase,   which    Spain  had  steadily  maintained  did  not   America, 
include   West  Florida   (p.   318).     In  1810  and  1812  the   VII'497, 
United  States  had  seized  a  portion  of  that  province,  but  had 
left  the  remainder  and  East  Florida  in  the  hands  of  Spain. 
This  matter  gave  rise  to  constant  irritation;    Spain  refused 
to  recognize  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  West  Florida  or 
to  sell  East  Florida.  The  American  government,  on  its  part, 
held  fast  to  the  territory  it  had  seized  and  endeavored  to 
buy  the  eastern  province.     East  Florida  was  of  slight  value 
to  Spain,  and  the  Spanish  government  was  so  beset  with 
difficulties  in  Europe  and  America  (p.  355)  that  it  could 
not  properly  govern  any  of  its  American  possessions.     East 
Florida  was  used  by  all  sorts  of  fugitives  from  the  United 
States, —  white,  black,  and  red.     It  was  also  a  convenient 
base  for  the  organization  of  smuggling  expeditions  into  the 
United  States.     The  situation  was  especially  grave  as  to 
the  Indians,  for  whenever  those  in  Georgia  and  Alabama 
rebelled,  they  fled  across  the  frontier  to  Florida  and  re 
ceived  shelter  and  assistance  from  its  inhabitants.     In  1818   Jackson 
General  Jackson  pursued  a  body  of  maurauding  Seminoles   J^vades 
across  the  boundary.     Finding  that  they  were  aided  by  the   I8Is. 
Spanish  settlers  at  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola,  he  seized  those   Schouler's 
two  places.     While  in  Florida  he  also  executed  two  British    I**r  TT 

_ x  f  states,  111, 

subjects,   Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  who  appeared   to  be   57-93. 
intriguing  with  the  natives  against  the  United  States. 

Jackson's  raid  aroused  discussion  in  the  cabinet:  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Monroe's  Secretary  of  State,  defended  it; 
all  the  other  members  of  the  administration  disapproved  it; 
one  of  them,  John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War,  proposed 
that  Jackson  should  be  tried  by  a  court-martial  for  insub 
ordination,  but  nothing  was  done. 


354 


War  and  Peace 


[§257 


Purchase  of  257.  The  Florida  Treaty,  1 819.  —  Negotiations  had  been 
Florida,  1819.  in  progress  for  some  time  for  the  purchase  of  East  Florida, 
or,  as  we  may  now  call  it,  Florida,  and  the  settlement  of 
all  existing  disputes  with  Spain.  The  negotiations  were 
brought  to  a  conclusion  by  a  treaty  which  was  signed  at 
Washington  (1819)  and  was  ratified  in  1821.  By  this 
instrument,  Spain  ceded  Florida  to  the  United  States  and 


Winsor's 
America, 
VII,  499- 


The  line  of 
1819. 


The  United  States,   1819 

abandoned  all  claim  to  lands  lying  east  and  north  of  the 
following  line  :  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sabine  River, 
this  line  followed  that  stream  to  the  32d  degree  of  latitude, 
thence  due  north  to  the  Red  River,  and  along  that  river  to  the 
one  hundredth  meridian ;  from  that  poin4:  the  line  ran  due 
north  to  the  Arkansas  River,  and  followed  the  channel  of  that 
stream  to  its  source,  thence  northward  or  southward,  as  the 
case  might  be,  to  the  forty-second  parallel  and  along  that 
line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  United  States  abandoned 
its  claim  to  lands  south  and  west  of  this  line  and  agreed  to 


1819]  The  Florida    Treaty  355 

pay  five  million  dollars  to  American  citizens  who  had  claims 
against  Spain  for  property  which  had  been  wrongfully  seized. 
The  effect  of  this  settlement  was  that  the  United  States 
acquired  Florida  and  gave  up  Texas.  The  letters  which 
were  written  by  John  Quincy  Adams  during  this  long  nego 
tiation  are  of  great  importance  in  diplomatic  history.  Sin 
gularly  enough,  it  was  reserved  for  his  grandson,  Henry 
Adams,  to  prove  conclusively  that  the  United  States  had  a 
perfect  title  to  Texas. 

The  Florida  treaty  was  signed  on  February  22,  1819,  and    Ratification 
was    ratified   by  the    Senate   without   opposition   or  delay.   °f  the  treaty, 
Spain,  however,  postponed  ratification  for  nearly  two  years. 
At  last,  in  1821,  the  agreement  was  completed.     Jackson 
was  appointed  governor  of  the   new  territory  of  Florida, 
which   was    admitted    to    the    Union   as   a   state   in   1845. 
Those  portions  of  the  old  province  of  West  Florida  which 
were  seized  in  1810  and  1812  were  added  to  the  states  of 
Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Alabama,  giving  the  two  latter 
access  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

258.    The    Spanish-American    Colonies,    1808-22. — The   Rebellions  in 
Spanish-American  colonies  in  South  and   Central  America   the  Spanish 
and  Mexico  had  originally  thrown   off  their  allegiance  to    I8o8_22' 
the  Spanish  monarch  when  Napoleon  thrust  his  brother  on   Schouler's 
the  Spanish  throne  (1808),  but  on  the  restoration  of  the  old    United 

States,  III, 

monarchy  they  had  returned  to  their  obedience  to  the  25-36. 
sovereign  of  Spain.  In  the  interval  they  had  enjoyed 
freedom  of  trade  with  other  nations.  Spain  again  imposed 
the  old  colonial  system ;  her  colonists  again  rebelled  (1816), 
and  the  government  of  the  mother  land  was  too  weak  to 
compel  submission.  The  ten  years  following  the  final  down 
fall  of  Napoleon  in  1815  were  a  period  of  great  unrest 
among  the  nations  of  Europe.  In  1820  the  Spaniards 
themselves  rebelled  against  their  restored  monarch.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  Spanish  colonists  were  able  to 
maintain  their  independence,  and  by  1822  revolutionary 
governments  had  been  established  in  every  Spanish  colony 
on  the  American  continents. 


356 


War  and  Peace 


[§259 


The  Holy 

Alliance. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  III, 

277. 


Canning's 

proposition. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  III, 

284. 


Independ 
ence  of  the 
Spanish 
colonies 
recognized, 
1822. 

Schouler's 
United 
States,  III, 
255- 


Russians  on 
the  north 
west  coast. 


The  elements  of  revolutionary  unrest  in  Europe  had 
caused  the  European  monarchs  to  form  a  "concert"  termed 
the  "Holy  Alliance,"  to  do  "each  other  reciprocal  ser 
vices,"  or,  in  plain  language,  to  maintain  one  another's 
rights  and  privileges.  Great  Britain  was  not  a  member  of 
this  league,  but  many  leading  Englishmen  undoubtedly 
sympathized  with  the  reactionary  tendencies  of  its  framers. 
In  1823  France,  in  the  name  of  the  "Holy  Alliance," 
restored  the  Spanish  king  to  his  throne.  He  eagerly  be 
sought  his  fellow-monarchs  to  complete  their  work  by 
restoring  his  authority  in  the  rebellious  American  colo 
nies.  The  apprehension  that  something  of  the  kind  might 
be  attempted,  aroused  the  commercial  animosities  of  Eng 
lish  merchants,  who  had  established  a  profitable  trade 
with  the  revolted  states  and  had  no  wish  to  see  the  Spanish- 
American  ports  again  closed  to  British  vessels.  Putting 
aside  for  the  moment  his  overbearing  manner,  Canning, 
the  British  foreign  minister,  courteously  addressed  the 
American  envoy  at  London,  Mr.  Richard  Rush,  and  pro 
posed  that  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  should  make 
a  concurrent  declaration  against  the  course  which  the  Holy 
Alliance  seemed  about  to  take  (1823). 

The  insurrectionary  movements  in  the  Spanish-American 
colonies  had  awakened  the  pity  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  They  sympathized  with  republican  move 
ments  in  general,  they  were  interested  in  the  trade  of 
Spanish  America,  and  they  especially  disliked  the  idea  of 
European  nations  interfering  in  American  affairs.  Monroe 
and  Adams,  both  experienced  diplomatists,  carefully  ob 
served  the  restrictions  imposed  on  neutrals  by  international 
practice.  By  1822,  however,  they  thought  that  the  time 
had  come  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  colonies. 
This  was  accomplished  by  the  appropriation  of  money  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  diplomatic  missions  to  "the  inde 
pendent  nations  on  the  American  continent." 

259.  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  1823. — Meantime,  another 
,  cause  for  anxiety  had  arisen.  Russia  had  obtained  a  foot- 


1823]  The  Monroe  Doctrine  357 

hold  on  the  northwestern  coast  of  America,   and  seemed 

determined  to  reserve  the  trade  of  that  region  to  herself. 

In  1821  the  Czar  issued  a  decree,  or  ukase,  forbidding  all 

foreigners  to  approach  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the 

American  coasts  north  of  the  fifty-first  parallel.     Russian 

fur  traders  were  constantly  appearing  farther  south,  and  it 

was  feared  that  Russia  would  extend  her  influence  down 

the  coast  to  Oregon,  and  even  to  California.     The  Czar 

was  also  the  leading  spirit  of  the  Holy  Alliance.     Bearing 

in  mind  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,   the  situation 

might  well  seem  desperate;  the  United  States  government 

might  have  been  pardoned  had  it  grasped  at  Canning's' 

proffered  friendship,  but  the  offer  was  politely  declined, 

largely  through  the  wise  insistence  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

He  believed  that  joint  action  with  Great  Britain  would 

probably  lead  to  a  new  partition  of  America  between  the 

principal  states  of  Europe.     If  this  should  happen,  France 

might  again  become  an  American  power,  Russia  might  gain 

Oregon  and  perhaps  California,  and  Great  Britain  might 

acquire  increased  strength.     Monroe  finally  accepted  this   Enunciation 

view  of  the  problem  and  stated  the  policy  of  the  govern-   ^Jthe 

ment  in  his  Seventh  Annual  Message  (December,  1823).        Doctrine 

Referring  to  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  United  States   1823. 
and  Russia  on  the  northwest  coast,  the  President  said :  "The    ^insor's 

America, 

occasion  has  been  judged  proper  for  asserting  as  a  principle  vil,  502; 

.  .  .  that  the  American  continents,  by  the  free  and  inde-  Schouier's 

pendent  condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  maintain,  stafu  ill 

are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  286,293; 

colonization   by  any  European   power."     Turning   to   the  Am*™** 

....  History  Leaf- 

question  of  European  intervention  to  settle  the  relations  iets  N0>4> 
between  Spain  and  her  former  colonies,  Monroe  stated 
that:  ".  .  .  The  citizens  of  the  United  States  cherish 
sentiments  the  most  friendly  in  favor  of  the  liberty  and 
happiness  of  their  fellow-men  on  that  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
In  the  wars  of  the  European  powers,  in  matters  relating  to 
themselves,  we  have  never  taken  any  part,  nor  does  it  com 
port  with  our  policy  to  do  so.  It  is  only  when  our  rights 


358 


War  and  Peace 


[§259 


Authorship 
of  the 
message. 


are  invaded  or  seriously  menaced  that  we  resent  injuries  or 
make  preparation  for  our  defense.  With  the  movements 
in  this  hemisphere  we  are  of  necessity  more  immediately 
connected,  and  by  causes  which  must  be  obvious  to  all 
enlightened  and  impartial  observers.  The  political  system 
of  the  allied  powers  is  essentially  different  in  this  respect 
from  that  of  America.  This  difference  proceeds  from  that 
which  exists  in  their  respective  governments.  And  to  the 
defense  of  our  own,  which  has  been  achieved  by  the  loss  of 
so  much  blood  and  treasure,  and  matured  by  the  wisdom  of 
their  most  enlightened  citizens,  and  under  which  we  have 
enjoyed  unexampled  felicity,  this  whole  nation  is  devoted. 
We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor,  and  to  the  amicable  rela 
tions  existing  between  the  United  States  and  those  powers, 
to  declare  that  we  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their 
part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemi 
sphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety.  With  the 
existing  colonies  or  dependencies  of  any  European  power 
we  have  not  interfered,  and  shall  not  interfere.  But  with 
the  governments  who  have  declared  their  independence, 
and  maintained  it,  and  whose  independence  we  have,  on 
great  consideration  and  on  just  principles,  acknowledged, 
we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of 
oppressing  them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their 
destiny,  by  any  European  power,  in  any  other  light  than 
as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the 
United  States." 

These  memorable  sentences  were  written  by  John  Quincy 
Adams,  but  the  responsibility  for  the  announcement  of  the 
policy  was  Monroe's,  and  the  message  was  rightly  coupled 
with  his  name.  In  truth,  the  principles  set  forth  in  this 
famous  document  originated  neither  with  Adams  nor  with 
Monroe;  their  genesis  may  be  traced  back  to  Washington's 
Neutrality  Proclamation  and  to  Jefferson's  famous  phrase 
of  "  entangling  alliances  with  none  "  (p.  311).  The  "  Mon 
roe  Doctrine"  was  the  established  policy  of  the  United 
States  long  before  1823,  and  has  been  cherished  and  ex- 


1823]  The  Monroe  Doctrine  359 

tended  by  later  statesmen.  It  would  be  better  now  to  drop 
the  name  of  Monroe  altogether  and  to  call  this  policy,  which 
is  usually  associated  with  his  name,  the  American  Policy. 
As  circumstances  change,  the  great  principles  underlying 
it  have  been,  and  must  be,  applied  to  new  conditions;  but 
the  use  of  Monroe's  name  seems  to  confine  them  to  those 
problems  only  which  confronted 
the  government  in  1823. 

Although  Canning's  suggestion  of  concurrent  action  was  • 
not  received  with  favor  by  the  United  States,  the  British 
authorities  acted  in  harmony  with  the  administration  at 
Washington.  Mr.  Canning  caused  the  French  government 
to  be  informed  that  the  use  of  force  by  the  Holy  Alliance 
would  at  once  lead  to  Britain's  recognition  of  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America.  The  projects 
of  the  Holy  Alliance  as  to  the  New  World  fell  dead.  At 
nearly  the  same  time  satisfactory  arrangements  were  made 
as  to  the  limits  of  Russia's  dominion  on  the  northwestern 
coast. 

260.  The  Russian  Treaty  of  1824.  — This  treaty  was  ne-   Treaty  with 
gotiated  during  Monroe's  administration.    It  is  called  the  sc^Ti^ier?4 
Treaty  of  1824,  although  it  was  not  ratified  until  January    United 

of  the  next  year   (1825).      It   declared   the   fisheries   and  states, 
navigation  of  the  Pacific  open  to  both  parties  and  fixed  the   III>33°- 
parallel  of  54°  40'  as  the  dividing  line  between  the  "  spheres 
of  influence"  of  the  two  contracting  parties,  the  Americans 
to  make  no  settlements  north  of  that  line  nor  the  Russians 
south  of  it. 

With  the  arrangement  of  this  matter,  the  old  foreign 
policy  of  the  United  States  may  be  said  to  have  terminated. 
Questions  of  internal  policy  had  already  assumed  the  fore 
most  position,  and  the  struggles  of  political  parties  turned 
more  and  more  on  the  contest  over  the  extension  of  the 
slave  system  to  new  territory,  and  to  the  perpetuation  of 
the  protective  tariff. 

261.  Extension  of  Slave  Territory.  — The  Ordinance  of 
1787,  prohibiting  slavery  north  of  the  Ohio  River  (p.  225), 


360 


War  and  Peace 


[§261 


Slave  and 

free  territory', 

1820. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  III, 

134-146. 


Proposal  to 
admit 

Missouri  as 
a  slave  state. 
Johnston's 
Orations,  II, 


Proposals  to 

restrict  slave 

extension. 

Schouler's 

United 

States, 

147-155 : 

MacDonald's 
Documents, 
Nos.  35-41. 


and  the  acts  of  Congress  admitting  free  states  north  of  that 
river  and  slave  states  south  of  it  (p.  306),  had  settled  the 
question  of  free  and  slave  soil  east  of  the  Mississippi  by 
making  the  Ohio  from  Pennsylvania  to  the  Mississippi  the 
dividing  line.  The  question  of  slavery  west  of  that  great 
stream  had  not  been  determined.  Was  the  vast  region 
between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  be 
devoted  to  freedom  or  to  bondage,  or  to  be  divided  between 
them,  as  the  original  territory  of  the  United  States  had 
been? 

In  1812  Congress  had  admitted  the  slave  state  of  Louisj- 
ana  tr^  rh^  Union.  For  six  years  nothing  more  was  heard 
of  the  question,  until  March,  1818,  when  Missouri  applied 
to  Congress  for  admission  to  the  Union;  but  no  action  was 
taken  at  that  session.  In  the  following  December  (1818) 
a  bill  was  introduced  organizing  the  southern  portion  of  the 
old  Missouri  Territory  as  a  new  territory  under  the  name 
of  Arkansas.  The  boundary  line  between  the  proposed 
state  and  territory  was  given  in  the  bill  as  the  parallel  of 
36°  30'  north  latitude;  this  would  be  substantially  a  pro 
longation  of  the  Ohio  River  line.  In  hrnai.  f  the 


consideration  of  these  bills  began  in  earnest,  and  at  once 
tHe  question  of  the  extension  of  slave,  territory  bppniTlF  nf 
the  greatest  importance^  James  W.  Tallmadge,  a  represen 
tative  irom  .New  York,  moved  to  amend  the  Missouri  bill 
to  the  effect  "  that  the  further  introduction  of  slavery  or 
involuntary  servitude  be  prohibited  and  that  all  children 
of  slaves  born  within  the  said  state  after  the  admission 
thereof  into  the  Union  shall  be  free."  The  proposed  state 
was  north  of  the  prolongation  of  the  Ohio  dividing  line, 
and  directly  west  of  the  free  state  of  Illinois;  it  seemed  to 
the  Northerners  only  right  that  it  should  be  free  soil,  and 
they  voted  for  Tallmadge's  amendment.  It  was  carried, 
the  bill  was  passed  by  the  House,  and  was  sent  up  to  the 
Senate.  The  Arkansas  bill  was  then  taken  up,  and  John 
W.  Taylor,  another  representative  from  New  York,  moved 
the  substance  of  Tallmadge's  proposition  as  an  amendment 


i82o]  The  Missouri  Compromises  361 

to  that  bill;  but  the  motion  was  defeated  by  the  casting 
vote  of  Henry  Clay,  who  was  once  more  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  McLane  of  Delaware  then  pro 
posed  that  a  line  should  be  fixed  west  of  the  Mississippi 
"north  of  which  slavery  should  not  be  tolerated,"  and 
Taylor,  acting  on  this  suggestion,  moved  that  slavery  should 
be  prohibited  north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude;  but  he  sub 
sequently  withdrew  his  amendment,  and  the  Arkansas  bill 
passed  in  its  original  form.  The  Senate  accepted  the 
Arkansas  bill,  refused  the  Tallmadge  amendment  to  the 
Missouri  bill,  and  Congress  adjourned  without  coming  to 
a  decision. 

This  question  of  the  expansion  of  slave  territory,  which   Seriousness 
had  suddenly  come  before  Congress,   aroused  an  amount   ofthecrlsls' 
of    interest   and    excitement    such    as    no    other    measure 
had        awakened 
for  years.      John 
Adams,  in  his  re 
tired  home  at  far- 
off  Quincy,   Mas 
sachusetts,    wrote 
that  he  hoped  no 
harm  would  come 
of  it;    but  Jeffer 
son,    at    his    man-  Ashland.  Clay's  residence 

sion     of     Monti- 
cello,  Virginia,  nearer  the  scene  of  conflict,  was  not  at  all 
hopeful,  and  declared  that  during  the  Revolutionary  War 
there  had  not  been  such  a  serious  division  of  opinion. 

262.    The  Missouri  Compromises,   1820,  1821. — A  new  The 
Congress  assembled  in  December,    1819,  and  the  slavery   Of°i82o01 
question  at  once  became  the  most  important  matter  of  the   Schouier's 
session.     Meantime,  the  Province  of  Maine  had  asked  to    United 

,  ,      .         ,  .       TT    .  •  ,       ,  '  ••       .    ,  ..  States,  III, 

be  admitted  to  the  li\\]f}\\  with  fog  rnngpnt  nf  A/Taggarhn.  I55_l6s; 

setts,  witn  which  Maine  had  been  united  since   1676  (p.  Rhodes's 

loyj.     The  Mouse  of  Representatives  promptly  passed  a  ^"l*ed 

bill  for  its  admission;  but  when  the  measure  came  before  1,30-41. 


362 


War  and  Peace 


[§262 


the   Senate,  a  clause  providing  for  rhp  admission    nf   Mis 
souri   was  tacked   to   it  by  way  of   afflpnHmpnt-   (January, 


Discussion 

in  the 

cabinet. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  III, 

166-171. 


More 

compromise, 

1821. 

Schouler's 

United 

States, 

178-186. 


1820).  In  the  course  ot  the  discussion,  the  Senate  refused 
to  adopt  an  amendment  prohibiting  slavery  in  Missouri, 
but  accepted  one  proposed  by  Jesse  B.  Thomas  of  Illinois, 
in  the  following  language  :  "That  in  all  that  territory  ceded 
by  France  to  the  United  States  under  the  name  of  Louisi 
ana,  which  lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees,  thirty  minutes 
north  latitude,  not  included  within  the  limits  of  the  state 
contemplated  by  this  act,  slavery  .  .  .  shall  be  and  is  hereby 
forever  prohibited."  The  bill  in  this  form  finally  passed 
the  Senate  by  the  votes  of  the  senators  from  the  Southern 
states  and  Illinois.  The  proposal  in  plain  language  was  to 
balance  the  admission  of  the  free  state  of  Maine  by  the 
admission  of  the  slave  state  of  Missouri,  and  to  forbid 
slavery  in  the  remainder  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  north 
of  Arkansas.  The  form  in  which  the  compromise  was 
effected  aroused  a  good  deal  of  friction  between  the  two 
houses.  Finally,  it  was  passed  and  received  the  President's 
approval. 

In  the  cabinet  there  was  an  interesting  discussion  as  to 
the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  prescribe  condi 
tions  under  which  states  might  be  admitted  into  the  Union. 
All  the  members  of  the  cabinet  concurred  in  the  opinion 
that  Congress  had  power  under  the  Constitution  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  the  territories.  It  should  be  noted  that  the 
Southern  members  agreed  in  this  view,  —  Wirt  of  Virginia, 
Crawford  of  Georgia,  and  John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Caro 
lina.  In  point  of  fact,  there  were  few  persons  then  in 
political  life  who  would  have  denied  that  Congress  pos 
sessed  full  power  to  impose  conditions  on  the  admission 
of  new  states. 

The  bill,  as  passed,  admitted  Maine  to  the  Union  and 
authorized  M.issouri  to  form  a  constitution  and  apply  to 
Congress  for  admission.  In  1821  the  constitution  of 
Missouri  came  before  Congress  for  formal  approval.  It 
was  found  to  contain  a  clause  forbidding  the  entrance  of 


t824]  The  Tariff  of  1824  3^3 

tree  blacks  into  the  state.  Free  blacks  were  then  and  for 
a  long  time  thereafter  regarded  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  federal  Constitution  guaranteed  certain 
rights  to  all  citizens.  This  clause  in  the  Missouri  con 
stitution  therefore  raised  a  very  serious  question.  Many 
Northerners  would  have  gladly  seized  this  opportunity  to 
overturn  the  compromise  of  1820.  In  the  end,  however, 
under  the  influence  of  Henry  Clay,  the  matter  was  again 
compromised.  Missouri  was  admitted  under  the  proposed 
constitution,  with  the  proviso  that  no  interpretation  should 
ever  be  placed  on  the  clause  in  question  which  should  in 
any  way  diminish  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
—  a  proviso  which  meant  absolutely  nothing.  The  Mis 
souri  Compromise  postponed  the  conflict  over  the  extension 
of  slavery  for  a  whole  generation.  It  may  be  considered 
to  have  been  justifiable,  as  it  gave  the  free  North  time  to 
develop  its  strength.  On  the  other  hand,  it  intensified 
the  division  into  sections,  which  was  already  so  apparent, 
and  when  the  time  came  for  the  compromise  to  be  of  real 
value  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  it  was  disregarded  and  pro 
nounced  unconstitutional  (pp.  434,  448). 

263.    The  Tariff  of  1824.  —  The  eight  years  which  had   Tariff  of 
elapsed  since  the  passage   of   the  Tariff  Act  of    1816,   of    l824- 
which  Calhoun  was  one  of  the  chief  supporters,  had  wit- 


nessed  a  great  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  several  sections   states,  ill, 
of  the  country  on  the  question  of  protection.     The  South-   295-298. 
erners,  who  had  then  not  opposed  the  policy,  were  now  its 
declared  enemies.     Although  they  had  not  suffered  much 
actual  damage  from  it,  the  tariff  was  clearly  of  no  benefit 
to  them,  and  seemed,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be  of  great  bene 
fit  to  two  classes,  —  the  agriculturists  of  the  West  and  the 
manufacturers  of  the  North.     The  Westerners  had  favored   The 
the  Tariff  Act  of   1816;  they  now  clamored  loudly  for  the   argument 
extension  of  the  principle.     They  argued  that  the  building    °       lg 
up  of  thriving  manufacturing  communities  in  the  East  would 
give  them  markets  near  at  hand  for  their  surplus  products, 
and  the  large  revenues  which  were   likely  to  result  from 


War  and  Peace 


[§264 


Arguments 
for  and 
against  pro 
tection,  1824. 
Taussig's 
State  Papers, 
252-385- 


The  "  Era 
of  Good 
Feeling," 
1821-25. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  III, 
259-270. 


increased  duties  would  enable  the  government  to  construct 
new  avenues  of  communication  across  the  Alleghanies,  and 
thus  render  the  new  markets  more  accessible.  In  the 
North,  also,  there  was  now  much  less  opposition  to  a  high 
tariff  than  there  had  been  earlier.  The  iron  masters  of 
Pennsylvania  were  eager  for  more  protection,  and  the  tariff 
had  enabled  the  New  England  manufacturers  to  pass  suc 
cessfully  through  a  commercial  crisis  in  1818-19  and  had 
been  an  incentive  to  a  large  increase  in  the  manufacturing 
industries  of  that  section.  The  most  remarkable  develop 
ment  in  this  direction  was  the  founding  of  the  town  of 
Lowell,  where  there  was  an  important  water  power  supplied 
by  the  Merrimac  and  Concord  rivers.  There  a  large  mill 
for  spinning  and  weaving  had  been  erected  and  opened  for 
business  in  1823. 

The  new  tariff  was  pressed  forward  on  the  eve  of  a  presi 
dential  election,  when  no  candidate  wished  to  offend  those 
interested  in  the  development  of  protection.  Webster,  who 
still  represented  the  commercial  as  opposed  to  the  manu 
facturing  interests  of  New  England,  argued  against  it  in  a 
speech  which  contains  une  of  the  best  expositions  of  free- 
trade  principles  anywhere  to  be  found.  The  votes  of  the 
Western,  Middle,  and  Eastern  states  were  too  numerous  for 
those  of  the  South,  and  the  bill  passed.  It  increased  the 
duties  on  iron,  wool,  hemp,  and,  to  a  less  degree,  on  woolen 
and  cotton  goods.  The  general  average  of  duties  on  pro 
tected  goods,  which  had  been  twenty-five  per  cent  in  1816, 
was  now  increased  to  thirty -seven  per  cent. 

264.  The  Election  of  J.  Q.  Adams,  1824,  1825. — Mon 
roe's  second  administration  (1821-25)  has  often  been  called 
the  "Era  of  Good  Feeling,"  and  so  it  was  in  the  country 
as  a  whole.  The  people,  busied  in  preparing  for  the  great 
industrial  expansion  of  Jackson's  time,  forgot  political 
animosities  and  bent  all  their  energies  to  building  the 
material  foundations  of  future  successes.  Among  the  poli 
ticians,  however,  it  was  far  from  being  an  "era  of  good 
feeling";  on  the  contrary,  it  was  a  period  of  political 


1 824] 


The  Election  of  J.   Q.  Adams 


365 


intrigue  and  ill  feeling  among  the  leading  men  seldom 
equaled  in  the  nation's  history.  It  was  a  time  when 
the  forces  which  were  to  control  the  destiny  of  the  country 
were  taking  form,  although  their  shapes  were  not  yet 
sufficiently  molded  to  attract  the  allegiance  or  animosity 
of  the  politicians  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  a  new  divi 
sion  of  political  parties.  Nevertheless,  the  candidates  for 
the  succession  to 
Monroe  represented, 
in  a  manner,  these 
new  forces. 

Of  Monroe's  cabi 
net  three  men  aspired 
to  succeed  their 
chief.  The  first  to 
come  forward  was 
John  C.  Calhoun  of 
South  Carolina,  Sec 
retary  of  War,  here 
tofore  identified  with 
nationalizing  doc 
trines,  but  now  be 
ginning  to  change 
his  mind;  the  pros 
pect  of  an  undis 
puted  election  to 
the  peaceful  seclu 
sion  of  the  vice-pres-  John  Quincy  Adams 
idency  determined 

him  to  withdraw  from  the  struggle  for  the  first  place.  William 
H.  Crawford  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  began  his 
preparations  to  secure  the  nomination  as  far  back  as  1820, 
by  procuring  the  passage  of  an  act  limiting  the  tenure  of 
civil  officers  to  four  years.  It  was  stated  that  the  purpose 
of  this  law  was  to  secure  a  better  accountability  on  the  part 
of  those  who  handled  public  moneys;  in  reality,  it  was 
devised  to  enable  Crawford  to  thrust  out  of  the  treasury 


366 


War  and  Peace 


[§264 


without  arousing  public  attention  all  officials  who  were  not 
favorable  to  his  presidential  aspirations.  John  Quincy 
Adams  of  Massachusetts,  Secretary  of  State,  also  aspired  to 
the  presidency.  In  addition,  Henry  Clay,  still  Speaker  of 
the  House,  became  a  candidate,  and  the  friends  of  General 
Jackson,  now  senator  from  Tennessee,  put  him  forward  as 
the  representative  of  the  people,  especially  those  of  the 
West.  Nominating  conventions  were  not  then  in  fashion 

for  federal  offices, 
and  besides  there 
were  no  well-de 
fined  political 
parties  behind  the 
several  candi 
dates.  Crawford 
secured  the  "ma 
chine  "  nomina 
tion  of  a  congres 
sional  caucus, 
which,  however, 
was  attended  by 
only  a  small  por 
tion  of  the  Re 
publican  members 
of  Congress.  The 
other  candidates 
were  put  forward 
by  state  legisla 
tures:  Adams  by  those  of  New  England;  Clay  by  those  of 
five  states,  including  his  own  state  of  Kentucky;  Jackson  by 
those  of  Tennessee  and  Pennsylvania.  Adams  and  Clay 
represented  the  nationalizing  tendencies  of  the  Republican 
party  in  the  North  and  West;  Crawford  stood  for  the  reac 
tionary  principles  which  were  then  beginning  to  influence 
the  South;  and  Jackson  represented  the  new  democracy, 
which  was  steadily  acquiring  strength  in  the  West  and  even 
in  the  East.  The  future  undoubtedly  was  with  him  and  his 


Clay. 


Election  of  1824 


Henry  Clay  in  1821.    After  a  painting  by  Charles  King 
367 


368 


War  and  Peace 


[§265 


The  election 
of  1824. 
Stanwood's 

Elections, 

79-95: 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  III, 
304-329. 


Cry  of 
corruption 
and  bargain. 


J.  Q.  Adams. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  III, 

336-343- 

397-409. 


friends,  but  as  yet  the  strength  which  lay  behind  him  was 
unorganized.  As  it  was,  he  received  ninety-nine  electoral 
votes  —  more  than  any  other  candidate  ;  Adams  received 
eighty-four  votes,  Crawford  forty-one,  and  Clay  thirty- 
seven.  No  candidate  had  obtained  a  majority,  and  the 
election  went  to  the  House,  voting  by  states,  and  confined 
in  its  choice  to  the  three  highest  on  the  list  (p.  319). 
Clay  was  therefore  out  of  the  contest.  His  views  and 
those  of  his  supporters  coincided  more  nearly  with  those 
of  Adams  than  with  those  of  either  Jackson  or  Crawford. 
He  advised  his  followers  to  vote  for  Adams,  and  the  latter 
was  elected. 

The  Constitution  had  expressly  given  the  House  the  right 
to  choose  from  the  three  highest  on  the  list.  Nevertheless, 
the  adherents  of  Jackson  declared  that  the  representatives 
had  thwarted  the  will  of  the  people.  In  a  few  days  it 
became  known  that  Adams  had  offered  Clay  the  position 
of  Secretary  of  State,  which  the  latter  had  accepted,  most 
unwisely,  as  events  were  to  show.  The  opponents  of  Adams 
and  Clay  at  once  raised  the  cry  that  a  bargain  had  been 
made  between  them.  Jackson,  who  seldom  calculated  his 
words,  and  who  had  probably  never  forgiven  Clay  for  his 
attempt  to  bring  him  to  account  for  his  raid  of  1818  (p. 
353),  announced  that  Clay  was  "the  Judas  of  the  West"; 
and  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  the  bitter  opponent  of  the 
nationalizing  tendencies  of  Adams  and  Clay,  asserted  in  his 
virulent  way  that  it  was  "a  combination  between  the  Puri 
tan  and  the  blackleg."  There  is  probably  not  an  atom  of 
truth  in  the  charge  of  a  bargain  between  the  new  President 
and  his  Secretary  of  State;  the  accusation  was  repeated, 
however,  until  even  its  inventors  must  have  believed  in  it, 
and  it  did  very  great  harm  to  both  Adams  and  Clay. 

265.  J.  Q.  Adams's  Administration,  1825-29. — Adams 
was  in  every  way  fitted  for  his  new  office.  Absolutely  fear 
less,  honest,  and  upright,  with  a  good  mind  and  well  trained 
to  the  administration  of  affairs,  he  would  no  doubt  have 
succeeded  admirably  had  he  become  President  eight,  or 


1825]  Foreign  Relations  3^9 

even  four,  years  earlier.  He  represented  the  sympathies 
and  aspirations  of  the  generation  which  was  now  fast  losing 
its  hold  on  the  confidence  of  the  people.  With  the  forces 
that  were  to  direct  the  future  destinies  of  the  country,  he 
had  little  in  common.  His  opponents  reiterated  the 
charges  of  "corruption  and  bargain";  they  set  on  foot 
constant  and  causeless  inquiries  into  the  conduct  o|  public 
officials;  they  discovered  little  wrongdoing,  but  the  cease 
less  round  of  charges  kept  alive  the  suspicions  that  many 
persons  undoubtedly  felt  as  to  Adams's  honesty  and  good 
faith. 

On  his  part,  Adams  made  many  mistakes.  He  proposed 
a  vast  system  of  public  improvements  which  alienated  the 
support  of  the  Southerners;  he  set  his  name  to  the  worst 
tariff  bill  that  the  country  has  ever  had;  and  he  failed  to 
carry  on  successfully  the  foreign  relations  of  the  nation. 

266.  Foreign  Relations,  1825-29.  —  The  most  unfortunate   Relations 
event  in  the  foreign  relations  of  these  years  was  the  closing  g|J  preat 
of  the  British  West  India  ports  to  American  commerce. 
.This  was  not  due  to  any  fault  of  Adams,  but  to  untimely 
legislation  by  Congress.     The  administration  did  what  it 
could  to  settle  the  matter  amicably,  but  the  British  govern 
ment  refused  to  negotiate  on  the  subject  at  all.     In  one 
respect,  Adams  and  Clay  were  fortunate  :  they  concluded 
many  commercial  treaties;  but  their  good  effect  was  more 
than  offset  by  the  loss  of  the  British  West  India  trade. 

The  administration  took  a  warm  interest  in  a  Congress   The  Panama 

of  all  the  American  Republics,  which  met  at  Panama,  in   Congress. 

'         _  .  0.  -p.    ..  Schouler's 

response  to  an  invitation  issued  by  General  Simon  hJohvar, 


the  South  American  patriot.      Adams  was  anxious  to  extend   States,  ill, 
the  influence  of  the  United  States  over  the  other  American  358-365- 
states;  he  also  desired  to  secure  a  general  recognition  of 
the  principles  set  forth  in  the   Monroe  Doctrine.     Acting 
on  these  ideas,  he  at  once  accepted  Bolivar's  invitation. 
When  Congress  met,  however,  the  opposition  seized  on 
this  as  a  favorable  point  of  attack.     Among  the  American 
states  invited  to  be  present  at  the  Congress  was  the  negro 


370 


War  and  Peace 


[§207 


Georgia, 
the  Indians, 
and  the 
federal 
government. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  III, 
370-381. 


republic  of  Hayti.  The  slave  owners  dreaded  the  example 
of  the  black  republic  on  their  slaves;  they  disliked  the  idea 
of  sitting  at  a  table  on  equal  terms  with  the  free  negroes  of 
Hayti ;  and  they  were  alarmed  lest  the  Panama  Congress 
should  adopt  resolutions  hostile  to  slavery.  After  consider 
able  delay,  Congress  voted  the  funds  necessary  to  enable 
the  United  States  delegates  to  go  to  Panama.  They  did 
not  arrive  there  until  after  the  Congress  had  adjourned, 
and  the  whole  affair  ended  in  a  ridiculous  failure. 

267.  Adams  and  Georgia,  1825-27.  — When  Georgia  had 
ceded  her  claims  to  Western  lands  to  the  United  States 
(1802),  the  state  and  the  federal  governments  had  agreed  that 
the  latter  should  in  some  way  remove  the  Indians  from  the 
lands  remaining  to  Georgia.  It  was  found  very  difficult 
to  accomplish  this.  Georgia  became  impatient  and  pro 
ceeded  to  take  possession  of  a  portion  of  the  lands,  in  virtue 
of  a  treaty  which  probably  had  no  force.  The  government 
interfered  to  protect  the  Indians  from  unjust  spoliation, 
and  brought  upon  itself  the  anger  of  Governor  Troup  of 
Georgia,  and  of  the  legislative  authorities  of  that  state. 
The  governor,  echoing  the  Kentucky  and  Hartford  Conven 
tion  resolutions,  stated  that  "between  states  equally  inde 
pendent  .  .  .  between  sovereigns  the  weaker  is  equally 
qualified  to  pass  upon  its  rights  "  as  the  stronger.  A  com 
mittee  of  the  legislature  went  further,  and  reported  that  the 
time  was  approaching  when  the  Southern  states  would  be 
obliged  to  confederate.  Adams,  on  his  part,  informed 
Congress  that  he  intended  "  to  enforce  the  laws,  and  fulfill 
the  duties  of  the  nation  by  all  the  force  committed  for  that 
purpose  to  his  charge."  In  Congress,  however,  the  oppo 
nents  of  Adams  and  Clay  were  in  the  majority;  they  grasped 
the  opportunity  to  humiliate  the  administration,  and  de 
clined  to  support  him.  Adams  was  obliged  to  draw  back, 
though  at  great  loss  to  the  national  prestige.  Georgia  had 
successfully  defied  a  weak  administration;  it  remained  to 
be  seen  whether  South  Carolina  would  be  able  to  withstand 
a  strong  one  (p.  395). 


1 828]  The  Tariff  of  Abominations  37 l 

268.  The  Tariff  of  Abominations,  1828.  —  "The  Tariff  of  The 
1828,"  says  Professor  Taussig,  "was  a  political  job."  No 
political  faction  dared  to  oppose  it  in  view  of  the  approach- 
ing  election.  The  Southerners  were  now  very  unfriendly  Schouler's 
to  its  protective  policy,  but,  owing  to  the  necessity  of  pro-  s^tef  \\\ 
curing  the  votes  of  the  Jackson  men  in  the  protective  North  420-426. 
and  West,  they  were  obliged  to  find  some  expedient  by 
which,  while  seeming  to  favor  a  high  protective  tariff,  they 
might  secure  its  defeat.  According  to  Calhoun,  the  scheme 
adopted  was  the  invention  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  senator 
from  New  York,  and  chief  of  a  political  clique  in  that 
state  known  as  the  Albany  Junto.  Van  Buren  had  opposed 
Jackson  in  1824,  but  had  since  warmly  attached  himself 
to  his  cause  and  had  organized  his  faction.  The  plan 
of  these  men  was  to  promote  the  passage  of  a  bill  which 
should  contain  such  high  duties  on  raw  materials  —  most 
of  them  produced  in  the  West  —  that  the  representatives  of 
the  manufacturing  states  in  the  East  would  not  vote  for  it. 
It  was  expected  that  the  latter  would  join  with  the  Southern 
representatives  at  the  last  moment,  and  by  their  votes 
insure  its  defeat.  The  scheme  was  a  "  curious  commentary, " 
to  quote  again  from  Professor  Taussig,  "  on  the  politicians 
who  were  now  coming  into  power."  In  the  beginning, 
everything  worked  happily  for  the  conspirators.  A  com 
mittee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  composed  mainly 
of  Jackson  men,  reported  a  bill  containing  high  duties  on 
manufactured  goods,  which  the  manufacturers  desired,  and 
high  duties  on  raw  materials,  which  the  Westerners  wanted. 
The  latter  duties  completely  destroyed  the  effects  of  the 
former,  so  far  as  the  manufacturers  were  concerned.  When 
the  bill  came  before  the  House,  the  Jackson  men  refused 
to  allow  amendments,  except  one,  which  slightly  bettered 
the  case  of  the  manufacturers  of  coarse  woolens.  The  same 
course  was  pursued  by  the  Jackson  men  in  the  Senate. 
The  bill,  abominations  and  all,  was  better  for  the  manu 
facturers  than  no  bill.  They  doubtless  expected  to  be  able 
to  secure  the  removal  of  some  of  the  things  which  bore 


372 


War  and  Peace 


[§269 


The  "  abom 
inations." 


Calhoun's 
Exposition. 
See  on  this 
general  sub 
ject,  Cal 
houn's  letter 
to  Hamilton, 
in  Stedman 
and  Hutch- 
inson,  IV, 
478. 


most  harshly  upon  them,  —  an  expectation  which  proved  to 
be  well  founded.  The  Adams  men,  therefore,  much  to  the 
dismay  of  the  plotters,  voted  for  the  bill,  the  President  signed 
it,  and  it  became  law.  A  few  illustrations  will  serve  to  show 
the  character  of  the  measure  :  (i)  the  duty  on  hemp,  which 
was  not  produced  in  the  country  in  any  quantity,  but  was 
much  used  in  Northern  shipyards,  was  raised  from  thirty- 
five  to  sixty  dollars  per  ton  and  (2)  the  duty  on  coarse  wool, 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  carpets  and  cheap  woolen  goods, 
was  more  than  doubled,  but  no  corresponding  increase  was 
made  in  the  duty  which  was  levied  on  the  manufactured 
article. 

269.  Calhoun's  Exposition,  1828.  —  The  Southerners 
were  greatly  angered  by  the  passage  of  this  measure, 
although  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  it  injured  them, 
if  it  injured  them  at  all.  There  was  a  sense  of  grievance, 
at  all  events,  and  the  leaders  used  it  to  promote  the  open 
declaration  of  states'-rights  doctrines.  Five  Southern  legis 
latures  protested  against  the  act,  and  the  legislature  of  South 
Carolina  set  forth  its  ideas  in  an  Exposition  and  Protest, 
drawn  up  by  Calhoun  (December,  1828).  In  this  cele 
brated  document  Calhoun,  reverting  to  the  precedents  of 
1799  and  1815  (pp.  286,  343),  argued  that  "the  existence 
of  the  right  of  judging  of  their  powers,  clearly  established 
from  the  sovereignty  of  the  states,  as  clearly  implies  a  veto 
or  control  on  the  action  of  the  general  government.  .  .  . 
There  exists  a  case  [the  Tariff  of  1828]  which  would  justify 
the  interposition  of  this  state,  in  order  to  compel  the  general 
government  to  abandon  an  unconstitutional  power,  or  to 
appeal  to  this  high  authority  [the  states]  to  confer  it  by 
express  grant."  He  suggested  that  a  convention  of  the 
state  of  South  Carolina  should  be  held,  to  decide  in  what 
manner  the  Tariff  Act  "  ought  to  be  declared  null  and  void 
within  the  limits  of  the  state."  So  threatening,  indeed, 
was  the  outlook  at  the  time,  that  Webster  wrote, "  I  became 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  plan  of  a  Southern  confeder 
acy  had  been  received  with  favor  by  a  great  many  of  the 


i828] 


The  Election  of  1828 


373 


N.C. 


political  men  of  the  South."  Nothing  more  was  done  at 
the  moment,  possibly  because  the  Southerners  expected  to 
find  in  the  newly  elected  President  a  champion  of  their 
cause. 

270.  Election  of  1828. — The  presidential  campaign 
which  ended  in  the  election  of  Jackson  was  fought  with  a 
bitterness  and  intemperance  without  a  parallel  in  the  earlier 
campaigns,  except 
perhaps  in  that  of 
1800.  Jackson  was 
supported  by  men  of 
all  shades  of  opinion, 
from  free-traders  to 
high  -  protectionists, 
from  states'-rights  men 
to  nationalists.  Most  of 
them  would  have  been 
entirely  unable  to  give 
any  reason  for  their 
position,  except  a  de 
sire  for  change  and  a 
feeling  that,  with 
Jackson's  election, 
there  would  be  an 
end  to  the  traditions 
which  up  to  that  time 
had  guided  the  govern 
ment, —  an  expectation  in  which  they  were  abundantly 
justified  by  the  event. 

Many  writers  regard  Jackson's  election  as  the  triumph 
of  the  people  in  opposition  to  the  moneyed  classes.  Others 
maintain  that  it  showed  "the  new  West  and  the  frontier 
had  taken  the  whip  hand  in  political  management."  Still 
other  students  see  in  it  the  victory  of  misrepresentation, 
slander,  appeals  to  the  passions,  and  political  intrigue,  and 
contend  that  a  similar  success  could  not  be  attained  now, 
in  the  days  of  the  rapid  spread  of  intelligence.  Certainly 


I    MO.  \ 

L_  __v:^-^ 

7  TENN.,- 


Adajns.. 


Election  of  1828 


Campaign 

of  1828. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  III, 

409-420, 

426-439 ; 

Stanwood's 

Elections, 

96-101. 


Meaning  of 

Jackson's 

election. 


374 


War  and  Peace 


[§270 


vote. 


it  was  well  understood  that  Jackson  was  a  man  "  who  stood 
by  his  friends  ";  those  who  worked  for  him  were  reasonably 
sure  of  reward.  Adams,  on  the  other  hand,  had  steadily 
refused  to  use  the  public  patronage  to  further  his  political 
fortunes;  his  re-election  would  do  little  to  repay  those 
who  worked  for  him.  Bearing  all  these  things  in  mind,  it 
is  remarkable  that  Adams  received  as  many  votes  in  1828 
The  electoral  as  he  had  obtained  in  1824.  All  the  rest  were  given  to 
Jackson,  who  received  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  elec 
toral  votes  to  eighty-three  for  Adams.  The  practice  of 
choosing  presidential  electors  by  popular  vote  had  gradu 
ally  been  adopted  in  all  the  states,  save  Delaware  and  South 
Carolina.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  to  estimate  the  popular 
vote  with  some  approach  to  accuracy.  Jackson's  majority, 
taking  the  states  as  a  whole,  was  about  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand.  It  is  true,  nevertheless,  and  worthy  of 
note,  that  the  change  of  a  few  thousand  votes  in  Pennsyl 
vania  and  New  York  would  have  given  the  electoral  votes 
of  those  states  and  the  election  to  Adams.  Calhoun  was 
re-elected  Vice-President  by  a  somewhat  smaller  majority 
than  that  given  to  Jackson. 

The  victory,  such  as  it  was,  was  undoubtedly  a  triumph 
of  the  new  forces  of  unrest  in  political  and  social  life. 
Sooner  or  later  it  was  certain  to  come,  and  its  coming  at 
this  time  was  fortunate.  Adams  was  soon  elected  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  where  he  gained  a  reputation  as 
honorable  as  it  has  been  unique,  and  one  which  he  never 
could  have  won  in  administration.  In  Adams's  place  as 
chief  magistrate,  there  appeared  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  America  has  produced,  and  one  who  was  admirably 
fitted  to  ride  the  storm  and  direct  the  forces  of  the  new 
democracy.  The  personal  character,  honesty,  and  good 
intentions  of  Andrew  Jackson  are  unquestionable,  however 
wrongful  many  of  his  acts  may  have  been,  and  however 
mean  and  base  were  the  motives  of  many  politicians  who 
fawned  upon  him  and  won  office  and  money  from  his 
misplaced  confidence. 


Schouler's 
United 
States,  IV, 
185. 


Questions  and  Topics  375 

SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 
§§  240-247,  248,  269.  THE  WAR  OF  1812 

a.  Compare  the  mode  of  recruiting  soldiers,  and  the  manner  of 
(raising  money,  in  the  War  of  1812  and  the  Civil  War. 

b.  What  do  you  think  of  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Adams  (§  244)  as 
applied  to  possible  future  wars  of  the  United  States? 

c.  Bring  to  class  a  brief  digest  of  the  history  of  Europe   1812-23. 
Why  was  the  Czar  anxious  for  peace  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain? 

d.  Describe  effects  of  the  war  upon  national  feeling,  political  parties, 
industrial   history  of  the  United  States  ;    upon  sentiments  of  foreign 
nations  towards  us.     Do  you  think  the  description,  "  Second  War  of 
Independence,"  well  chosen? 

c.  Show  that  the  qualities  which  made  Madison  great  as  a  states 
man  unfitted  him  for  a  war  president.  Look  up  life  and  influence  of 
Mrs.  Madison. 

§§  247,  269.  THE  HARTFORD  CONVENTION 

a.  Compare  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Hartford  Convention 
with  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions,  with  the  doctrines  set 
forth  in  Calhoun's  Exposition,  and  with  the  South  Carolina  resolutions 
of  1832. 

§§  249-254.  NATIONALIZATION 

a.  Show  how  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  noted  in  §  254, 
greatly  diminished  the  power  of  the  states  and  increased  that  of  the 
federal  government. 

b.  Upon  what  grounds  did  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Monroe  believe 
internal   improvements   to   be    beyond    the    powers    of    the    federal 
government?      What    is   the   view   of   the   leading    political    parties 
to-day? 

§§  255-260.   FOREIGN  AFFAIRS 

a.  Trace  the  history  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  to    1823.      In  your 
opinion     did    Cleveland's    Venezuela    message    enunciate    any    new 
principle? 

b.  Place  as  heading  in  note-book,  "Oregon,"  and  enter  under  it 
all  fitting  matter  as  you  proceed.     What  matter  in  these  sections  must 
you  enter  under  it,  and  why?     Precisely  what  did  the  word  "Oregon" 
mean  in  1818?  in  1825? 

c.  Represent  in  colors   upon   an   Outline    Map   all  the  territorial 
changes  noted  in  this  chapter. 


376  War  and  Peace 


§§  261-262.  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISES 

a.  Represent  upon  an  Outline  Map  the  effect  of  the  several  pro 
posals  noted  in  these  sections. 

b.  State  carefully  the  procedure  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  Maine 
and  of  Missouri. 

§§  263,  265-268.  ADMINISTRATION  OF  J.  Q.  ADAMS 

a.  Bring  to  class  a  brief  digest  of  the  career  of  J.  Q.  Adams. 

b.  In  what  way  did  the  tariff  injure  the  South?  in  what  way  did  it 
benefit  the  North  and  the  West? 

c.  Which  party  had  right  and  justice  on  its  side  in  the  affair  men 
tioned  in  §  267  ? 

§§  264,  270.   ELECTIONS  OF  1824  AND  1828 

a.  Examine  the  maps  on  pp.  366  and  373,  and  determine  how  far 
the  facts  disclosed  justify  the  statement  that  in   1828  "the  New  West 
and  the  frontier  had  taken  the  whip  hand  in  political  management." 

b.  How  has  it  happened  that  the  House  has  substantially  lost  the 
freedom  of  choice  contemplated  in  the  Constitution  ? 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  The  "Great  Triumvirate"  —  Webster,  Clay,  and  Calhoun  :  bring 
to  class  a  digest  of  their  careers. 

b.  The  "  Era  of  Good  Feeling  "  :  why  so  called  ?     Contrast  it  with 
the  preceding  period,  1789-1812. 

c.  What  matter  in  this  chapter  must  be  entered  in  your  note-book 
under  "  Particularism,"  and  what  under  "  Nationalism  "  ? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 

a.  Summarize  Monroe's  message  of  1823  (357,  last  reference). 

b.  Summarize    Clay's   argument    for    protection,    1824    (364,    first 
reference). 

c.  Summarize  Webster's  argument  against  protection  in  1824  (364, 
first  reference). 

d.  Tabulate  the  election  returns  of  1824  by  states  (368,  first  refer 
ence  of  first  group). 

e.  Tabulate  the  election  returns  of  1828  (373,  last  reference  of  first 
group). 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  NATIONAL  DEMOCRACY,  1829-1844 

Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings. — Johnston's  American  Politics,  109-148; 
Wilson's  Division  and  Reunion,  22-146;  Schouler's  United  States, 
III,  507-529.,  IV,  1-31. 

Special  Accounts.  —  W.  G.  Brown's  Andrew  Jackson  ;  Von 
Hoist's  Calhoun  (S.  S.);  Lodge's  Webster  (S.  S.);  Schurz's  Clay 
(S.  S.);  Morse's/.  Q.  Adams  (S.  S.);  •  Schouler's  United  States; 
*Greeley's  American  Conflict;  Clarke's  Anti- Slavery  Days;  Morse's 
Lincoln  (S.  S.) ;  Goodell's  Slavery  ;  Taussig's  Tariff  History ;  Lar- 
ned's  History  for  Ready  Reference ;  Wilson's  Presidents.  Larger 
biographies  of  the  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §  25. 

Sources.  —  American  History  Leaflets;  Old  South  Leaflets;  Ben- 
ton's  Abridgment  and  Thirty  Years'  View;  J.  Q.  Adams's  Diary; 
Williams's  Statesman's  Manual;  Johnston's  American  Orations; 
Stedman  and  Hutchinson,  American  Literature.  Writings  of  the 
leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §§  32,  33;  MacDonald's  Documents. 

Maps. — Mac  Coun's  Historical  Geography;  Hart's  Rpoch  Maps, 
Nos.  7,  8,  ii. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a,  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  180-189  (Topics  and  References). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  *Cooley's  Michigan  (A.  C);  *Scharf's 
Maryland  (A.  C.) ;  *Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History;  Quincy's 
Figures  of  the  Past;  Cooper's  Notions  of  the  Americans;  Kemble's 
Recollections  of  a  Girlhood;  McCulloch's  Men  and  Measures  ;  Parton's 
Jackson  ;  Trollope's  Manners  of  the  Americans  ;  Wise's  Seven  Decades  ; 
*Gouge's  Money  and  Banking;  Olmsted's  Cotton  Kingdom;  Garrisons' 
Life  of  Garrison  ;  Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West ;  Hale's  Stories  of 
Inventions;  Hubert's  Inventors;  Hapgoocl's  Daniel  Webster. 

Seba  Smith's  Life  and  Letters  of  Major  Jack  Downing ;  Lucy  Lar- 
com's  A  New  England  Girlhood ;  Longstreet's  Georgia  Scenes ;  Hil- 
dreth's  The  Slave  ;  Hawthorne's  Blithedale  Romance. 

THE  NATIONAL   DEMOCRACY,  1829-1844 

271.  Significance  of  Jackson's  Election. —The  election 
of  Andrew  Jackson  to  the  chief  magistracy  marked  the  election 

377 


378 


The  National  Democracy 


[§272 


Andrew 
Jackson. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  IV, 
112,  265. 


Popular 
sovereignty. 


Jackson's 
policy. 


close  of  the  second  great  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  in  some  respects  a  typical  man  of  the 
people.  Born  in  the  Carolina  backwoods,  he  passed  his 
boyhood  amid  the  alarms  and  hostile  encounters  of  the 
Revolutionary  Wa/.  He  then  made  his  way  over  the  moun 
tains  to  the  newer  Carolina,  which  rapidly  developed  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  the  state  of  Tennessee  in  1 796. 
Picking  up  a  few  scraps  of  legal  knowledge,  he  became  a 
lawyer ;  but  it  was  as  a  military  man  that  he  made  his  mark. 
Without  fear,  with  boundless  energy,  and  with  a  faith  in  his 
own  judgment  and  good  intentions  scarcely  ever  surpassed, 
Jackson  proved  himself  to  be  a  born  leader  of  men  in  time 
of  stress.  In  the  Indian  wars  of  that  period,  and  in  the 
War  of  1812,  he  led  his  men  to  victory.  In  every  way 
Jackson  was  a  fitting  representative  of  frontier  life,  which 
now  for  the  first  time  took  a  leading  position  in  national 
affairs  in  combination  with  Eastern  political  leaders  who 
saw  no  other  way  to  the  possession  of  power. 

272.  Theory  of  Popular  Sovereignty. — The  Jacksonian 
theory  of  political  existence,  like  the  Jeffersonian  doctrine, 
rested  on  the  rights  of  the  individual,  but  there  the  resem 
blance  ceased.  Jefferson  had  aimed  at  the  formation  of 
local  democracies,  the  state  being  the  unit  of  political 
action ;  Jackson  and  those  behind  him  believed  in  the 
existence  and  in  the  building  up  of  a  national  democracy. 
He  was  the  administrator  of  a  group  of  strong  political 
leaders,  —  Benton  of  Missouri,  Van  Buren  of  New  York, 
Taney  of  Maryland,  and  Edward  Livingston  of  Louisiana, 
but  of  the  New  York  Livingston  stock.  They  believed  with 
Jackson,  or,  more  likely,  Jackson  believed  with  them,  that 
the  Constitution  should  be  strictly  construed,  at  least  as  far 
as  all  ordinary  functions  of  the  government  were  concerned. 
"The  reign  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  as  the  eight  years  of  his 
presidency  has  been  picturesquely  termed,  was  a  period  of 
strictly  constitutional  despotism.  Internal  improvements 
were  put  ruthlessly  to  one  side,  the  United  States  Bank  was 
ruined,  and  protection  was  lessened  as  much  as  could  possi- 


After  a  painting  by  Longacre 


379 


380  The  National  Democracy  [§  273 

bly  be  done  without  losing  the  support  of  the  West  and 
North.  Furthermore,  Jackson  and  his  friends  believed  that 
the  people  of  the  United  States  should  govern.  Acting  on 
this  idea,  they  maintained  that  in  electing  Adams  in  1825, 
the  House  of  Representatives  had  refused  to  give  the  presi 
dency  to  the  man  who  was  "  entitled  "  to  it  by  the  voices 
of  a  majority  of  the  voters.  But  the  "  sovereignty  of  the 
people,"  which  was  called  in  on  that  occasion  and  on  all 
occasions  of  strain,  as  in  the  contest  with  the  bank,  was  not 
in  the  Constitution.  That  instrument,  on  the  contrary,  had 
provided  the  means  for  thwarting  the  will  of  the  people  by 
the  interposition  of  the  electoral  college  in  presidential 
elections  and  by  the  check  exercised  by  the  Senate  in 
legislative  business.  It  was,  however,  a  most  important 
day  for  the  United  States  and  for  the  American  people  when 
the  forces  of  democracy  adopted  the  idea  of  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  This  new  idea  was  to 
bear  immediate  fruit  in  Jackson's  own  time,  in  a  manner 
that  many  of  those  who  had  voted  for  him  scarcely  dreamed 
of  at  the  moment  of  his  election.  It  will  be  well  to  examine 
the  condition  of  the  country  at  such  an  epoch-marking 
period. 

Numbers,  273.   Population  and  Area  in  1830.  —  The  population  of 

1830.  tne  United  States  was  now  slightly  under  thirteen  millions, 

in  comparison  with  five  and  one  half  millions  in  1800.  Of 
this  increase  of  over  seven  and  one  quarter  millions,  not 
more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  were  immigrants. 
It  was  in  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  century  that  the 
institutions  of  the  country  became  solidified  on  a  demo 
cratic  basis,  and  this  work  was  accomplished  by  the  original 
population  of  the  country  and  their  children.  English 
institutions  remained  the  dominant  institutions,  and  the 
English  language  remained  the  dominant  language. 
Area,  1830.  The  area  of  the  United  States  had  more  than  doubled  in 
the  same  time  ;  in  1830  it  was  over  two  million  square 
miles,  in  comparison  with  less  than  eight  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  square  miles  in  1800.  Meantime  the  settled  area 


1830] 


Population  and  Area 


Backwoodsman,  1829 


had  increased  in  about  the  same  proportion  :  in  1830  it 
was  six  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  square  miles,  as  against 
three  hundred  and  five  thousand  square  miles  in  1800. 
This  great  increase  in  the  area  of  settlement  had  been  due, 


382 


The  National  Democracy 


[§274 


Growth  of 
the  West. 


The  cities. 


for  the  most  part,  to  colonization  of  lands  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  Of  the  eight  states  admitted  to  the  Union 
since  1800,  only  one  (Maine)  was  situated  on  the  Atlantic 
slope;  the  others  (Ohio,  1803;  Louisiana,  1812;  Indiana, 
1816;  Mississippi,  1817;  Illinois,  1818;  Alabama,  1819; 
Missouri,  1821)  were  all  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  This 
rapid  growth  of  the  West  had  been  partly  offset  by  a  large 
increase  in  the  population  of  the  seaboard  states,  but  the 
center  of  population  had  moved  westward  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  miles,,  to  the  western  boundary  of  Maryland ;  in 
1800  it  had  been  only  eighteen  miles  west  of  Baltimore. 

The  nation  as  a  whole  was  still  a  rural  people,  as  only 
about  seven  per  cent  of  the  population  was  collected  into 
cities  and  towns  of  over  eight  thousand  inhabitants  (for 
1800,  see  p.  299).  Nevertheless,  owing  to  the  growing 
importance  of  manufacturing  and  commercial  pursuits  in 
the  northeastern  states,  the  tendency  toward  town  life  had 
become  fairly  apparent,  so  far  as  that  section  was  con 
cerned.  The  population  of  New  York  City  had  more  than 
trebled,  rising  from  sixty  thousand,  in  1800,  to  two  hun 
dred  thousand  in  1830 ;  of  this  increase,  no  less  than  eighty 
thousand  had  taken  place  in  the  last  decade,  1820-30. 
Other  large  cities  were  Philadelphia,  with  one  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  thousand  inhabitants  against  seventy  thousand 
in  1800;  Baltimore,  with  eighty  thousand,  and  Boston, 
with  sixty-one  thousand,  in  comparison  with  twenty-six  and 
twenty-four  thousand  respectively  in  1800.  New  Orleans, 
with  forty-six  thousand,  was  the  only  city  of  considerable 
size  south  of  the  Potomac  and  Ohio  rivers,  as  Charleston, 
Savannah,  Richmond,  and  Norfolk  had  not  grown  in  pro 
portion  to  the  total  populations  of  the  states  in  which  they 
were  situated.  On  the  other  hand,  Cincinnati,  on  the 
northern  bank  of  the  Ohio  River,  was  already  a  thriving 
town  of  twenty-four  thousand  inhabitants.  It  seemed  not 
unlikely  that  the  same  distinctions  between  the  free  and 
the  slave  states,  noticeable  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  would 
soon  find  their  counterpart  west  of  those  mountains. 


i83o] 


Population  and  Area 


383 


274.    Influence  of   Slavery. — The  total  population  had   increase  of 
more  than  doubled  in   thirty  years,   the    slave    population   slaves- 
increasing  in  almost  precisely  the  same  proportion  as  the 
white  population.      The  latter  had  numbered   nearly  four 
millions  in  1800;  in  1830  it  was  ten  and  one  half  millions; 
the  slave  population,  in  the  same  time,  had  increased  from 
nine   hundred  thousand   to  over   two   millions,  and    there 


Density  of  population,  1830 

were  about  three  hundred  thousand  free  negroes  in  1830, 

mostly  in   the   Northern    states.      In   1800   the  free   white   Distribution 

inhabitants  had  been  distributed   between  the    North   and  °fslaveand 

tree  popula- 

South,   in  proportion  of  twenty-five   to   thirteen.     In   1830   tion. 
the  proportion  was  about  the  same ;    but   the    South    had 
maintained  its  place  only  through  the  acquisition  of  Louisi 
ana  and  Florida  and  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  states  bor 
dering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     The  influence  of  slavery  in   influence  of 
limiting  population  becomes  at  once  apparent  by  a  study   slavery- 


384 


The  National  Democracy 


[§275 


of  the  figures  relating  to  the  thirteen  original  states.  In 
1800  the  free  whites  living  east  of  the  Alleghanies  and 
north  of  Maryland  had  outnumbered  those  in  the  Southern 
states,  excluding  the  people  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
two  to  one;  in  1830  they  outnumbered  them  five  to  one 
The  introduction  of  improved  methods  of  transport,  anu 
the  further  encouragement  of  Northern  manufactures,  would 
still  further  build  up  the  manufacturing  and  commercial 
towns  in  the  northeastern  states.  Unless  something  were 


1  mprove- 
ments  in 
transpor 
tation, 
1800-30. 


Stagecoach,  1829 

done  to  check  this  growth,  the  time  was  not  far  distant  when 
the  free  population  of  the  North  would  outnumber  that  of 
the  South  five  to  one.  Discerning  Southern  leaders  were 
already  anxious  over  the  outlook.  In  this  fact  is  to  be 
found  the  reason  for  their  hostility  to  the  continuance  of  the 
protective  system,  which  they  had  helped  to  introduce. 

275.  Improvements  in  Transportation.  —  It  is  difficult 
nowadays  to  understand  the  conditions  of  transport  which 
prevailed  before  the  development  of  the  present  railway 
system.  To  those  living  at  the  time  of  Jackson's  inaugura- 


1830]  Improvements  in   Transportation  385 

tion,  the  improvements  already  made  for  the  conveyance 
of  passengers  between  the  centers  of  commerce  and  gov 
ernment  seemed  wonderful.  In  1800  the  stage  drawn  by 
horses  had  taken  three  days  to  convey  a  passenger  from 
Boston  to  New  York.  The  introduction  of  the  steamboat 
at  all  possible  points  had  reduced  the  time  occupied  by 
the  journey,  now  performed  partly  by  stage  and  partly  by 
steamboat,  by  one  half,  —  to  about  thirty-six  hours.  Boston 
was  then  about  as  far  from  New  York  as  St.  Louis  is  to-day. 

JFulton  made  his  celebrated  voyage  up  the  Hudson  in  the  Fulton's 
Clermont  in  1807.  The  steamboat  was  immediately  in  steamboat, 
great  demand,  but  it  was  not  until  Fulton's  monopoly  was 
declared  unconstitutional  that  the  building  and  operating 
of  steam  vessels  became  free  to  all.  Before  the  outbreak 
of  the  War  of  1812  steamboats  were  placed  on  the  Western 
rivers,  at  once  changing  the  whole  problem  of  emigration 
and  settlement.  In  1818  the  first  steamer  appeared  on 
Lake  Erie;  in  1830  a  daily  line  was  running  from  Buffalo 
to  Detroit.  New  types  of  steamers,  especially  designed 
for  lake  and  river  navigation,  were  rapidly  built,  and  their 
use  became  well-nigh  universal.  With  the  improvement  in 
steam  navigation,  the  opportunity  for  its  successful  prose 
cution  was  greatly  enlarged  by  the  opening  of  canals. 

The  most  important  and  successful  of  these  was  the  Erie  The  Erie 
canal,  connecting  Lake  Erie  with  the  Hudson.      It  will  be  Canal. 
remembered  that  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  rivers  form  a 


natural  break  in  the  Appalachian  system  (p.  n),and  this  states, 
break  continues  westwardly  from  the  head  of  the  Mohawk  In>  34<5' 
to  the  Great  Lakes.  From  the  southern  end  of  the  Appa 
lachian  system  in  Georgia  and  Alabama,  to  its  eastern  and 
northern  end  in  New  England,  this  is  the  only  opening  of 
low  altitude  leading  westward,  and  it  was  entirely  suited  to 
the  building  of  a  canal.  The  man  who  saw  this,  and  whose 
name  should  always  be  remembered  in  this  connection  as 
a  benefactor  of  mankind,  was  De  Witt  Clinton.  To  his 
energy  and  ability  the  building  of  the  canal  was  due.  It 
was  opened  in  1825,  and  at  once  changed  the  conditions 


386 


The  National  Democracy 


[§276 


Railroads. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  IV, 
121-131. 


of  Western  life  and  made  New  York  the  great  commercial 
metropolis  of  the  country.  Within  a  year,  the  cost  of  con 
veying  a  ton  of  grain  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  had  fallen 
from  one  hundred  dollars  to  fifteen  dollars ;  the  farmers  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  had  been  brought  within  reach 
of  the  markets  of  the  world.  The  success  of  the  Erie  canal 
gave  rise  to  the  building  of  canals  in  all  directions,  and 
induced  Adams  and  Clay  to  recommend  schemes  of  internal 
improvement  which  were  distasteful  to  many  of  their  sup 
porters.  The  most  remarkable  of  the  later  canals  was  the 
Chesapeake  and  Ohio,  designed  to  connect  tide  water  with 
the  great  interior  waterways.  These  early  canals  were 
worked  by  horse  power.  Many  of  them  were  failures,  but 
for  a  time  they  played  an  important  part  in  the  develop 
ment  of  the  country. 

276.  Railroads.  —  On  July  4,  1828,  three  years  after  the 
completion  of  the  Erie  canal,  Charles  Carroll  of  Maryland, 
the  last  survivor  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  drove  the  first  spike  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  the  earliest  line  designed  for  the  conveyance  of 
both  passengers  and  freight.  By  1830  fifteen  miles  of  it 
were  completed.  In  the  beginning,  the  cars  or  coaches 
were  drawn  by  horses,  but  in  1829  one  of  Stephenson's 
locomotives  was  imported  and  served  as  a  model  until  the 
first  type  of  the  American  locomotive  was  evolved.  By 
1832  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  had  reached  a  point  seventy- 
three  miles  from  Baltimore,  and  had  been  equipped  with 
locomotives  capable  of  making  fifteen  miles  an  hour.  In 
1830  there  were  twenty-three  miles  of  railroad  in  opera 
tion;  building  now  proceeded  rapidly,  and  by  1840  there 
were  about  twenty-three  hundred  miles  in  operation,  or 
ready  for  traffic.  Congress  (1832)  encouraged  this  work 
by  providing  that  duties  should  be  refunded  on  all  rails 
laid  down  within  three  years  of  importation.  At  the  outset, 
these  roads  were  designed  to  connect  towns  already  in 
existence,  or  the  existing  water  routes ;  they  were  intended 
to  replace  the  stagecoaches.  Afterwards  the  railroads  were 


1830]  Social  Changes  387 

generally  built  first,  giving  the  means  of  settlement  to  a 
new  section  of  the  country,  and  then  transporting  the  prod 
uce  of  that  region  to  the  existing  water  communication. 
In  this  manner,  the  interior  began  to  be  settled  away  from 
the  rivers.  In  the  decade  1840-50,  five  thousand  miles 
of  railroad  were  built;  but  it  was  not  until  after  1850  that 
the  pushing  of  the  railroad  into  new  sections  was  done  with 
great  vigor.  Of  the  thirty  lines  at  first  projected,  only 
three,  and  those  short  lines,  were  designed  to  be  built  south 
of  the  Potomac  River. 

277.  Other  Inventions.  —  During  this  period  there  was  a  inventions. 
great  change  in  the  iron  industry,  due  partly  to  the  demand 

for  iron  in  railroad  building  and  operating,  and  partly,  per 
haps,  to  the  tariff;  but  more  especially  to  the  introduction 
of  anthracite  coal  for  the  smelting  of  iron.  The  same 
coal  was  also  used  in  the  furnaces  of  locomotives.  The 
effect  of  this  adaptation  of  anthracite  to  the  production  of 
iron  was  to  centralize  the  iron  industry  in  Pennsylvania. 
Coal  also  came  into  use  for  heating  dwellings,  and,  coupled 
with  the  introduction  of  illuminating  gas  for  street  and 
house  lighting,  completely  changed  urban  life  in  the  North. 
At  the  close  of  this  period  came  the  introduction  of  another 
great  invention,  —  the  electric  telegraph.  By  1845,  there 
fore,  American  life,  in  the  North  at  least,  may  be  said  to 
have  thrown  off  the  colonial  guise,  which  it  still  wore  at 
Jackson's  inauguration,  and  to  have  taken  on  its  modern 
form. 

278.  Social  Changes.  —  The  growth  of  democratic  ideas,   Social 
of  which  the  widening  of  the  suffrage  is  one  of  the  best  tests,   chanses- 
had  now  taken  a  firm  hold  on  the  people ;  only  two  North 
ern  states  preserved  the  old  property  franchise.     With  the 
coming  in  of  new  economic  forces,  wealth  began  to  accumu 
late  in  fewer  hands ;  corporations  began  to  take  the  place 

of  individuals ;  and  speculators  began  to  make  and  lose  for 
tunes  by  holding  Western  lands,  by  manipulating  railroad 
stocks,  and  by  establishing  moneyed  institutions  of  one 
kind  or  another. 


388 


The  National  Democracy 


[§  279 


Literary  and 

scientific 

workers. 


Education. 


The  change  which  had  come  over  society  was  especially 
marked  by  the  sudden  outburst  of  an  American  literature. 
Of  those  who  wrote  before  1830,  Bryant,  Irving,  and  Cooper 
have  made  enduring  reputations ;  they  were  still  at  work. 
Between  1830  and  1845,  Emerson  and  Hawthorne,  Long 
fellow  and  Lowell,  Whittier  and  Holmes,  Poe,  Prescott, 
and  George  Bancroft  began  their  labors ;  Jared  Sparks  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  study  of  American  history ;  Kent, 
Story,  and  Wheaton  began  the  publication  of  law  books  on 
scientific  foundations ;  and  Asa  Gray,  Benjamin  Peirce, 
J.  D.  Dana,  Joseph  Henry,  Silliman,  and  Louis  Agassiz 
began  their  scientific  investigations  and  teaching. 

279.  Education  and  Religion.  —  The  colleges,  also,  awoke 
from  their  eighteenth-century  lethargy ;  but  the  progress 
made  in  the  art  of  teaching  was  slight,  except  that  science 
claimed  more  attention  than  had  formerly  been  the  case. 
One  hopeful  sign  was  the  increased  resort  to  the  colleges 
and  the  interest  taken  in  the  higher  education  by  the  peo 
ple.  The  common-school  system  spread  throughout  the 
new  West,  and  it  was  greatly  stimulated  by  the  wise  liber 
ality  of  the  government  in  devoting  one  thirty-sixth  part 
of  the  public  lands  to  that  purpose.  Unhampered  by  the 
traditions  which  encircled  educational  institutions  in  the 
older  settled  regions,  these  Western  schools  became,  many 
of  them,  model  institutions  of  their  kind. 

Secondary  education  also  began  to  assume  prominence. 
To  the  "grammar"  schools,  which  had  now  almost  disap 
peared,  and  the  academies,  never  numerous,  were  added  the 
high  schools.  Through  these  new  institutions  the  urban 
communities  provided  by  taxation  fuller  opportunities, 
especially  in  the  modern  subjects,  and  prolonged  the 
period  of  public  education  from  two  to  four  years.  Begin 
ning  in  Boston  (1821),  high  schools  have  spread  first  to  the 
principal  cities  and  then  to  all  the  larger  towns,  broaden 
ing  their  scope  as  they  have  increased  in  number.  Their 
service  in  stimulating  elementary  education  and  in  train 
ing,  under  democratic  conditions,  the  young  people  from 


American  men  of  science 
389 


390 


The  National  Democracy 


[§280 


all  social  classes,  is  not  easily  overestimated.  But  little 
later  in  origin  were  the  normal  schools,  in  which  teachers 
are  trained  for  the  common  schools.  These  have  more 
slowly  but  steadily  multiplied.  Not  the  least  valuable 
part  of  their  influence  is  seen  in  the  somewhat  recent 
establishment  of  courses  in  the  art  of  teaching  in  the  lead 
ing  universities. 

Religion.  In  religion,  there  was  a  great  upheaval.  The  old  forms 

of  thought  everywhere  gave  way,  and  new  sects  began  to 
rise.  The  greatest  blow  given  to  the  old  order  of  things 
was  the  disestablishment  of  the  Congregational  Church  in 
New  England,  and  the  vigorous  growth  of  Unitarianism  on 
its  ruin.  The  Unitarians  were  not  formidable  in  point  of 
number,  but  the  liberalizing  tendencies  of  which  they  were 
the  exponent  were  soon  to  dominate  American  life  in  the 
North. 

The  South.  In  all  this  march  of  progress,  in  all  this  great  mental  and 

material  awakening,  the  South  had  no  part;  the  census  of 
1840  showed  a  large  growth  in  every  Northern  state;  at 
least  one  Western  state  had  doubled  its  population  in  ten 
years ;  the  old  South,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  at  a  stand 
still.  Georgia,  alone,  had  made  an  important  gain.  As 
it  was  in  material  affairs,  so  it  was  in  intellectual  matters  : 
not  one  of  the  writers,  poets,  essayists,  historians,  or  men 
of  science  whose  names  have  been  given  above  lived  and 
worked  in  the  South.  Moreover,  in  1840,  no  less  than 
sixty-three  per  cent  of  the  illiterate  white  adults  were  to 
be  found  in  that  section  of  the  country. 

Party  280.  The  Spoils  System,  1829. — Jackson's  administra- 

on'  tions  mark  not  only  a  great  change  in  the  material  and 
mental  development  of  the  nation ;  they  mark,  also,  a  great 
change  in  political  methods  and  modes  of  action.  Up  to' 
this  time  there  had  been  no  national  party  machinery ;  in 
most  states,  there  had  been  no  local  party  machinery.  In 
two  states,  however,  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  most 
highly  developed  party  organizations  had  been  built  up  by 
Van  Buren,  Marcy,  and  other  politicians  of  the  new  type. 


1 830] 


Webster  and  Hayne 


391 


It  is  hardly  necessary  to  describe  in  detail  the  means  by 
which  these  politicians  compassed  their  ends :  they  are 
familiar  to  all.  In  brief,  it  may  be  said  that  they  organized 
the  party  workers  on  a  semimilitary  plan,  paying  the  laborers 
for  their  labor  by  public  offices  —  when  the  party  was  success 
ful.  These  politicians  saw  "  nothing  wrong  in  the  rule  that 
to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils  of  victory."  They  now  in 
troduced  the  spoils  systenfof  party  organization  into  national 
politics. 

Jackson,  it  was  well  known,  regarded  his  fight  for  the 
presidency  as  a  personal  matter  :  those  who  helped  him  were 
his  personal  friends ;  those  who  opposed  him  were  his  per 
sonal  enemies.  It  was  generally  expected  that  he  would 
"reward  his  friends  and  punish  his  enemies."  Removals 
at  once  began,  and  all  who  had  not  shouted  loudly  for  Jack 
son  were  displaced.  Then  came  the  turn  of  those  who 
had  been  long  in  office,  for  long  tenure  was  in  itself  an 
evidence  of  "  corruption."  In  nine  months,  more  than  a 
thousand  officials  had  been  removed,  as  against  one  hundred 
and  sixty  during  all  the  preceding  administrations.  Appoint 
ments  were  made  on  similar  principles ;  those  who  had 
"  worked  "  for  Jackson  were  presumably  honest  and  efficient. 
The  new  President  was  anxious  that  only  good  men  should 
be  employed,  but  it  was  impossible  for  him  personally  to 
examine  into  the  credentials  of  such  hordes  of  applicants. 
In  the  end  it  appeared  that  many  very  unfit  persons  had 
been  admitted  to  the  public  service. 

In  his  management  of  public  business,  also,  Jackson 
broke  away  from  all  precedents.  He  held  few  cabinet 
meetings,  and  made  up  his  mind  chiefly  on  the  advice  of 
a  small  group  of  personal  friends,  —  men  of  ability,  —  who 
formed  what  was  known  at  the  time  as  the  "  kitchen 
cabinet." 

281.  Webster  and  Hayne,  1830.  —  A  student  skilled  in 
the  interpretation  of  historic  facts  might  have  predicted 
in  1828  that  the  moment  was  not  far  off  when  the  South 
would  again  take  up  the  weapon  of  "  state  interposition," 


The  "  spoils 
system." 


Jackson  and 

the  civil 

service. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  III, 

451-461. 


Position  of 

the  South. 

Schouler's 

United 

States, 

111,482. 


392 


The  National  Democracy 


[§281 


which  Jefferson  had  referred  to  in  the  original  draft  of 
the  Kentucky  Resolutions,  and  the  New  England  Federal 
ists  had  adopted  during  the  troublous  years  1807-15,  and 
had  finally  set  forth  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Hartford 
Convention  (pp.  343, 345).  It  was  the  weapon  of  the 
minority :  the  Southerners  were  now  rapidly  falling  behind 
in  point  of  numbers,  and  they  naturally  occupied  the  po 
sition  which  the  New  Englanders,  who  were  now  strong  in 
their  alliance  with  the  Westerners,  had  abandoned.  As  one 


Webster's  house  at  Marshfield,  Massachusetts 

means  of  strengthening  their  position  the  Southerners  tried 
to  separate  the  Western  men  from  those  of  the  East  on  the 
ground  that  the  latter  were  hostile  to  the  further  develop 
ment  of  the  West. 

The  leaders  in  the  debate  were  Robert  Y.  Hayne  of  South 
Carolina  and  Daniel  Webster  of  Massachusetts.  Drifting  far 
away  from  the  subject  under  discussion,  Hayne  set  forth  in 
luminous  phrases  the  Calhoun  theory  of  states'  rights.  In 
his  splendid  rejoinder,  Webster  stated  the  theory  of  national 
existence.  This  latter  speech,  full  of  burning  enthusiasm, 


1830]  Webster  and  Hayne  393 

richly  deserves  the  foremost  place   it  occupies  among  the   Webster  and 

masterpieces   of  American    eloquence.     Hayne  rested    his   t1^116,'  I-83°' 

,  ?      _    „  ,.    Schoulers 

argument  on  the  premises  used  by  Jefferson  and  the  men  of    united 

New  England  :  the  Constitution  was  a  compact,  the  states  states,  III, 

were  sovereign  when  they  formed  it,  and  had  retained  their  ^Af~^ric^n 

sovereignty,    although   creating   another    sovereign    power.  History  Leaf- 

"In  case  of  deliberate  and  settled  differences  of  opinion  lets>  No-  3°; 

Johnston's 
Orations,  I, 
233-302. 


Daniel  Webster 
From  photograph  of  Powers's  bust 

between  the  parties  to  the  compact  as  to  the  extent  of  the 
powers  of  either,"  Hayne  maintained  that  "  resort  must  be 
had  to  their  common  superior,  three  fourths  of  the  states 
speaking  through  a  constitutional  convention."  This  appeal 
could  be  made  by  any  state,  for  "  the  federal  government  is 
bound  to  acquiesce  in  a  solemn  decision  of  a  sovereign 
state,  acting  in  its  sovereign  capacity,  at  least  so  far  as 
to  make  an  appeal  to  the  people  for  an  amendment  to 


394 


The  National  Democracy 


[§281 


the  Constitution."  Webster,  on  his  part,  contended  that 
the  Constitution  was  in  no  sense  a  compact,  but  an  in 
strument  whereby  the  "  People  of  the  United  States " 
established  a  strong  centralized  government  and  endowed 
it  with  ample  powers  to  enforce  its  rights ;  for  a  state 
to  resist  the  enforcement  of  a  national  law  was  revolu 
tion  if  it  succeeded,  rebellion  if  it  failed.  The  student 
will  do  well  to  study  the  more  important  portions  of  these 
speeches. 

Careless  use  Webster  and  Hayne  between  them  had  stated  the  two 
of  language,  ^eas  of  the  Constitution  around  which  the  history  of  the 
United  States  was  to  center  for  the  next  thirty  years.  Un 
fortunately,  in  all  these  controversies,  there  was  a  most  per 
sistent  use  of  loose  language  on  the  part  of  the  Southerners. 
For  instance,  in  the  speech  just  quoted,  Hayne  spoke  of 
"sovereign  states"  as  having  a  "common  superior."  Of 
course  a  sovereign  state  has  no  superior;  if  a  state  has  a 
superior,  it  is  not  sovereign.  The  Southerners,  however, 
continued  to  use  precise  terms  in  inaccurate  senses,  and 
thus  deluded  themselves  with  the  belief  that  their  states 
really  were  sovereign.  Another  example  of  the  same  mis 
use  of  language  is  to  be  found  in  the  sentences  above 
quoted,  for  Hayne  appeared  to  regard  the  federal  govern 
ment  as  a  party  to  "  the  compact "  by  which  it  had  been 
brought  into  existence. 

Comments  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  in  his  interesting  life  of  Webster, 

on  Webster's  maintains  that  Webster's  argument  was  historically  unsound  ; 
he  asserts  that  in  1787-88  "there  was  not  a  man  in  the 
country  .  .  .  who  regarded  the  new  system  as  anything  but 
an  experiment  entered  upon  by  the  states,  and  from  which 
each  and  every  state  had  the  right  peaceably  to  withdraw,  a 
right  which  was  very  likely  to  be  exercised."  He  asserts, 
furthermore,  "  that  when  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Reso 
lutions  appeared  they  were  not  opposed  on  constitutional 
grounds,  but  on  those  of  expediency  and  of  hostility  to 
the  revolution  [of  1800]  which  they  were  considered  to 
embody."  With  this  statement  Professor  Woodrow  Wilson 


1832]  Nullification  395 

of  Princeton  University  would  appear  to  be  in  substantial 
accord,  when  he  writes  :  "  The  ground  which  Webster  took, 
in  short,  was  new  ground  ;  that  which  Hayne  occupied,  old 
ground."  Other  writers,  as  Professor  A.  C.  McLaughlin 
of  Michigan  University,  maintain,  on  the  contrary,  that 
"since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  the  American 
people  have  been  legally  a  state,  and  that  Calhoun  and 
Jefferson  Davis  [and  presumably  the  New  England  Federal 
ists  as  well]  were  technically  as  well  as  morally  wrong." 
Whatever  may  be  the  historical  truth  as  between  these  dis 
putants,  there  can  be  no  question  that  Hayne  and  Calhoun 
stood  for  ideas  which  were  soon  to  be  repudiated  by  the 
majority  of  American  citizens,  and  that  Webster  stated  the 
theory  of  constitutional  interpretation  which  was  to  be  pre 
dominant  in  the  future,  and  to  come  victorious  out  of  the 
test  of  civil  war. 

282.   Nullification,  1832,  1833.  —  In  1832,  Congress  took  Tariff  of 
up  in  earnest  the  subject  of  tariff  revision  ;  the  rates  were    l832- 

,    ,  ,  .  .  Rhodes's 

lowered  but  the  protective  system  was  reorganized  on  what 


promised  to  be  a  permanent  basis.     The  South  Carolinians   states,  I, 
determined  to  resist  it,  and  to  try  the  weapon  of  minorities,  43~53- 
—  "  state  interposition."    The  master  spirit  in  this  movement 
was  Calhoun,  and  the  upholder  of  the  rights  of  the  federal  Jackson  and 
government  was  Andrew  Jackson.     Born  in  the  same  neigh-    Calhoun- 
borhood,  of  the  same  Scotch-Irish  stock,  these  two  men  had   ^ 


up  to  this  time  been  friends.  It  now  came  to  Jackson's  ears  States, 
that  Calhoun,  who  had  always  expressed  the  highest  regard  III>498 
for  him,  had  actually  proposed  that  Jackson  should  be  cen 
sured  for  his  bold  action  in  the  Seminole  War  (p.  353).  To 
one  of  the  President's  temperament,  no  friend  could  have 
made  such  a  suggestion.  Calhoun  was  read  out  of  the  party 
and  his  friends  turned  out  of  the  cabinet.  Even  before  this 
time,  Jackson  had  given  plain  intimation  of  the  line  of  con 
duct  he  would  take  if  South  Carolina  should  attempt  to 
assert  her  pretended  right  of  "  veto  "  of  national  laws.  At  a 
banquet  on  Jefferson's  birthday,  he  had  given  the  toast  which 
dismayed  his  Southern  hearers  :  "  Our  federal  Union  :  it 


396 


The  National  Democracy 


[§282 


Jackson's 

re-election, 

1832. 


Grievance 
of  South 
Carolina. 


must  be  preserved."  He  also  had  already  informed  one 
South  Carolinian  that  "  if  a  single  drop  of  blood  shall  be 
shed  there  [South  Carolina]  in  opposition  to  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  I  will  hang  the  first  man  I  can  lay  my  hand 
on,  upon  the  first  tree  I  can  reach." 

In  November,  1832,  Jackson  was  re-elected  President  by 
an  overwhelming  majority,  receiving  two  hundred  and  nine 
teen  votes  out  of  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight. 


John  C.  Calhoun 

He  regarded  this  triumphant  re-election  as  an  indorsement 
of  his  political  views,  and  indicative  of  the  wish  of  the  "  sov 
ereign  people"  that  he  should  use  his  power  to  put  his  polit 
ical  views  into  practice.  In  reality,  the  vote  was  due  to  his 
personal  popularity,  and  to  the  lack  of  harmony  in  the  ranks 
of  his  opponents. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  precisely  what  the  grievance 
of  the  South  was  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff.  Calhoun  had 
been  one  of  the  most  ardent  advocates  of  the  establishment 


The  Force  Bill 


397 


of  the  protective  policy  in  1816  (p.  348)  ;  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  the  South  was  being  oppressed  by  its  operation.  Its 
exports  were  large  :  nearly  three  fourths  of  the  total  exports 
of  the  country  came  from  that  section.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  increased  prices  to  be  paid  for  protected  goods  were 
paid  equally  at  the  North  and  at  the  South.  The  real  fact 
at  the  bottom  was  that  the  South  was  falling  behind  in 
material  development ;  that  was  due  to  slavery.  The  South 
erners  had  a  sense  of  grievance,  though  they  hesitated  to 
recognize  in  what  their  grievance  consisted,  or  that  they 
alone  were  responsible  for  it.  The  leaders  of  South  Caro 
lina  determined  to  make  their  power  felt :  they  held  a  state 
convention  (November,  1832),  declared  the  tariff  acts  of 
1828  and  1832  null  and  void,  and  of  no  force.  They  for 
bade  South  Carolinians  to  pay  duties  levied  under  the  de 
tested  tariff  acts  after  February  i,  1833. 

283.  The  Force  Bill.  —  Jackson  met  the  issue  in  a  direct 
and  soldierly  fashion.  In  a  proclamation  (December  10, 
1832)  he  declared  that  "The  laws  of  the  United  States 
must  be  executed.  I  have  no  discretionary  power  on  the 
subject,  —  my  duty  is  emphatically  pronounced  in  the  Con 
stitution.  .  .  .  Their  [the  nullifiers']  object  is  disunion,  and 
disunion  by  armed  force  is  treason."  He  also  warned  "  the 
citizens  of  South  Carolina  .  .  .  that  the  course  they  are 
urged  to  pursue  is  one  of  ruin  and  disgrace  to  the  very 
state  whose  right  they  affect  to  support."  He  dispatched 
soldiers  and  naval  vessels  to  Charleston,  and  directed  the 
collector  of  that  port  to  collect  the  duties,  using  force  if 
need  be.  He  also  appealed  to  Congress  to  enlarge  his 
powers  to  enable  him  to  execute  the  law.  Congress  passed 
a  bill  —  the  Force  Bill  —  giving  him  the  powers  he  desired. 
It  was  evident  that  Jackson  was  in  earnest.  The  South 
Carolina  leaders,  therefore,  held  an  informal  meeting,  and 
suspended  the  operation  of  the  nullification  ordinance ; 
whence  they  derived  the  authority  thus  to  overrule  the  will 
of  the  "  sovereign  people  of  South  Carolina  "  has  never  been 
stated. 


Nullification, 
1832. 


Jackson's 
proclama 
tion,  1832. 
Schouler's 
United 
States, 
IV,  89. 


398  The  National  Democracy  [§  284 

Compromise        284.   The  Compromise  Tariff,  1833. — The  matter,  how- 

s  Thief's3'     ever'  was  not  to  come  to  °Pen  warfare-     The  other  South- 
United  ern  states,  although  they  sympathized  with  South  Carolina 

States,  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  and  although  many  Southern 

Johnston's  men  regar(^e(^  secession  as  a  right,  did  not  agree  with  Cal- 
Orations,  IV,  houn  as  to  the  efficacy  or  rightfulness  of  nullification.  They 
202-237.  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  administration,  or,  at 
least,  did  not  aid  South  Carolina.  Virginia,  on  some  con 
stitutional  ground  not  easily  discoverable,  pretended  to  act 
in  the  guise  of  a  "  mediator."  On  the  other  hand,  the 
administration  itself,  and  many  of  its  leading  supporters, 
did  not  believe  in  protection,  or,  at  all  events,  not  in  high 
protection.  Clay  seized  this  favorable  opportunity  to  try 
to  effect  a  compromise,  and  this  he  easily  accomplished. 
The  Compromise  Tariff  Act  became  law  on  March  3,  1833, 
one  day  after  the  Force  Bill  received  Jackson's  assent.  It 
provided  for  a  return  to  the  low  tariff  of  1816  by  a  gradual 
reduction  spread  over  ten  years ;  one  tenth  of  the  excess  of 
twenty  per  cent  was  to  be  removed  each  second  year,  until 
January,  1842,  when  one  half  of  the  remainder  should  be 
removed,  the  other  half  being  removed  in  the  following 
July.  By  1843,  therefore,  the  tariff  would  return  again  to 
the  low  duties  of  1816  ;  at  the  same  time  the  protective 
principle,  as  a  basis  of  national  policy,  would  be  saved.  It 
was  already  known  that  South  Carolina  would  accept  this 
compromise.  Accordingly,  another  state  convention  was 
held,  the  ordinance  nullifying  the  tariff  of  1832  was  re 
pealed,  and  another  ordinance  nullifying  the  Force  Bill  was 
passed. 

The  real  cause  of  grievance,  as  has  been  already  stated, 
was  not  the  tariff:  it  was  the  effects  of  slavery  in  limiting 
the  South  to  agricultural  pursuits.  Instead  of  recognizing 
the  mischiefs  inevitable  to  this  condition  of  affairs,  and 
energetically  going  to  work  to  relieve  itself  of  the  burden 
of  slavery,  the  South,  under  the  lead  of  Calhoun,  changed 
its  ground  of  attack,  and  recognized  that  "the  basis  of 
Southern  union  must  be  shifted  to  the  slave  question." 


1831]  Antislavery  Movement  399 

285.   The   Antislavery  Agitation,   1831-38.  —  The  years   Early 

of  the  nullification  episode   marked   the   beginning  of  an   antlslavery 

.  .         agitation. 
agitation  against  the  further  continuance  of  slavery  which  Johnston's 

never  ceased  until  slavery  was  done  away  with  during  the    Orations, 

Civil  War.     In  1831  two  occurrences  brought  the  question   J  '  3> 

before  the  people  of  the  North  and  the  South.     The  first 

of  these  was  a  slave  insurrection  in  Virginia,  the  second 

was  the  establishment  of  the  Liberator  in  Boston,  by  Wil 

liam  Lloyd  Garrison.     The    insurrection    at  Southampton,   South- 

Virginia,  was  headed   by  Nat   Turner,  a  negro  slave,  and   amPton 

,      n  .  ,  .„.  „     .  insurrection, 

resulted  in  the  killing  of  sixty  whites  and  of  more  than  one 


hundred  negroes  before  it  was  stamped  out.     To  the  South- 
erners,  conscious  of  the  perils  always  surrounding  them,  it 
appeared  to  be  a  dreadful  affair.     The  Virginia  legislature 
discussed  the  possibility  of  slave  emancipation  as  a  remedy, 
—  the  last  time  this  subject  was  debated  in  any  Southern 
legislature.     The  other  Southern  states  made  it  the  occasion 
for  making  sharper  laws  against  the  blacks,  and  one  state, 
Georgia,  by  act  of  its  legislature,  promised  a  reward  of  five 
thousand  dollars  to  any  one  who  would  kidnap  Garrison  and 
bring  him  into  the  state  to  be  tried  according  to  Georgia 
laws  for  inciting  slaves  to  insurrection.     As  a  matter  of  fact,   Garrison 
there  was  no  connection  whatever  between  the  publication   and  the 
of  the  Liberator  and  the  Southampton  insurrection.     Wil-    old  South 
liam  Lloyd  Garrison,  a  Boston  printer,  had  worked  at  Balti-    Leaflets, 
more  with  Benjamin   Lundy  on   his  paper,  the   Genius  of   I1*'1*,0',1' 

J  *  J      Schoulers 

Universal  Emancipation.  Garrison  had  been  imprisoned  United 
in  consequence  of  an  article  he  had  written.  He  had  come  States,  iv, 
face  to  face  with  slavery  on  its  own  soil,  and,  returning  to 
Boston  (1831),  established  the  Liberator,  written  in  the 
most  outspoken  hostility  to  slavery.  Garrison  demanded 
immediate  abolition  of  slavery,  without  compensation  to  the 
owners.  "  Let  Southern  oppressors  tremble,"  he  said,  "... 
On  this  subject  I  do  not  wish  to  write  with  moderation." 
At  the  moment,  however,  the  overwhelming  sentiment  in  the 
North  was  against  the  abolitionists.  A  few  examples  will 
serve  to  show  this. 


400 


The  National  Democracy 


[§287 


Abolitionists 
opposed  in 
the  North, 
I833-35- 


Breach  of 
the  Missouri 
Com 
promise, 
1836. 


Slavery 

petitions 

presented 

to  Congress, 

1836. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  IV, 

220-228. 


The  "gag 
resolutions." 


286.  Anti-abolition  Sentiment  in  the  North,  1833-37. — 
In  1833  a  Connecticut  schoolmistress,  Prudence  Crandall, 
admitted  a  colored  girl  to  her  school  at  Canterbury  in  that 
state ;  the  result  was  the  passage  of  a  law  by  the  Connecti 
cut  legislature,  prohibiting  the  establishment  of  schools  for 
negroes  or  their  admission  to  schools  already  established, 
without   the   consent  of   the  local  authorities.     The   same 
year  a  college  for  the  education  of  blacks  was  established 
at  Canaan,  New  Hampshire ;  a  mob  razed  the  building  to 
the  ground,  and  not  one  person  was  punished  for  the  out 
rage.     Riots  directed  against  the  abolitionists  also  occurred 
in    New   York,    New   Jersey,    and    Connecticut.     In    1835 
Garrison  was  led  about  the  streets  of  Boston  with  a  rope 
around  his  body,  and  locked  up  in  the  jail  by  the  authorities 
to  protect  him  from  worse  violence. 

In  1836,  also,  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  broken  by 
the  addition  to  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  slave  state 
of  Missouri  of  a  strip  of  territory  about  as  large  as  the  state 
of  Rhode  Island,  the  land  in  question  being  part  of  that 
which,  according  to  the  Compromise  of  1820,  was  to  be 
forever  free;  but  slight  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid 
to  the  matter  in  the  North. 

287.  Slavery  Petitions  in  Congress,  1836.  —  In  the  spring 
of  1836,  the  opponents  of  slavery  began  again  to  petition 
Congress  in  favor  of  the  blacks.     The  Southerners  became 
alarmed,  for  they  dreaded  the  effect  of  constant  discussions 
of  the  moral  and  constitutional  position  of  slavery.     At  their 
instance,  the  House  of  Representatives  passed  a  "  gag  reso 
lution,"  providing  that  "  all  petitions,  memorials,  resolutions, 
propositions,  or  papers  relating  in  any  way  ...  to  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery  .  .  .  shall,  without  being  printed  or  referred, 
be  laid  on  the  table  and  that  no  further  action  shall  be  had 
thereon."     Under  the  Constitution,  Congress  could  not  re 
fuse  to  receive  petitions ;  could  Congress,  having  received 
them,  refuse  to  listen  to  them  and  to  consider  them?     John 
Quincy   Adams,    now    representative    from    Massachusetts, 
thought  not.     When  his  name  was  called,  he  said,  in  a  loud 


1836]  Antislavery  Movement  401 

voice,  refusing  to  be  stopped  :  "  I  hold  the  resolution  to  be 
a  direct  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
the  rules  of  the  House,  and  the  rights  of  my  constituents." 
In  the  Senate,  Calhoun  took  very  strong  ground.  He  de-  Calhoun  on 
clared  the  petitions  to  be  "  a  foul  slander  on  nearly  one  half  slavery- 
of  the  states  of  the  Union."  As  to  slavery,  he  said  :  "  It 
has  grown  with  our  growth,  and  strengthened  with  our 
strength.  It  has  entered  into  and  modified  all  our  institu 
tions,  civil  and  political.  None  other  can  be  substituted. 
We  will  not,  cannot  permit  it  to  be  destroyed.  ...  I  ask 
neither  sympathy  nor  compassion  for  the  slaveholding  states. 
We  can  take  care  of  ourselves.  It  is  not  we,  but  the  Union, 
which  is  in  danger."  Senator  Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania 
warned  Calhoun  and  the  Southerners  against  the  results  of 
the  course  they  advocated.  "  Let  it  be  once  understood," 
he  said,  "  that  the  sacred  right  of  petition  and  the  cause  of 
the  abolitionists  must  rise  or  fall  together,  and  the  conse 
quences  may  be  fatal."  The  Southerners  persisted,  and  the 
Senate  also  passed  "  gag  resolutions." 

On  the  6th  of  February,  1837,  Adams  presented  a  peti-   J.Q.Adams, 
tion  from  twenty-two  slaves  and  asked  what  should  be  done   Morse>s 
with  it.     The  Southerners,  irritated  before,  were  now  beside   fh.  ii'i.  * 
themselves  with  rage.     They  threatened  him  with  the  peni 
tentiary,  unmindful  of  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  (Art.  i, 
§  6)  which  provides  that  no  member  of  Congress  shall  "  be 
questioned  in  any  other  place  "  for  "  any  speech  or  debate 
in  either  House."     Upon  being  reminded  of  that  provision, 
they  endeavored  to  have  him  censured  at  the  bar  of  the 
House ;  but  Adams  defended  himself  so  manfully  that  the 
attempt  was  abandoned  (February,  1837). 

Meantime  another  dispute,  also  turning  on  slavery,  had   Abolition 
arisen.     In   1835   the  United  States  post  office  at  Charles-   PaPers  in 

0        ,      _        ,.  the  mails, 

ton,  bouth  Carolina,  was  broken  into,  and  Northern  papers   1835-36. 
brought  in  the  mails  were  seized  and  burned.     Postmasters 
in  other  places  applied  to  the  Postmaster-General,  Amos  A. 
Kendall,  for  guidance  as   to  how  to  deal  with   antislavery 
publications  destined  for  the  South.     The  Postmaster-Gen- 


402 


The  National  Democracy 


[§288 


Murder  of 
Lovejoy. 

1837- 

Schouler's 
United 
States,  IV, 
296-302. 


Johnston's 
Orations,  II, 
102-114. 


Growth  of 
antislavery 
sentiment  in 
the  North, 
1838. 


eral  avoided  giving  a  direct  answer,  but  Jackson  suggested 
the  passage  of  a  law  to  prevent  the  sending  of  "  incen 
diary  publications "  through  the  mails.  Calhoun  actually 
reported  a  bill  to  oblige  Congress  to  prohibit  the  circulation 
of  publications  deemed  by  any  state  to  be  incendiary;  but 
this  failed  of  adoption  (April,  1836). 

288.  Change  of  Sentiment  in  the  North,  1837,  1838. — 
The  first  martyr  to  the  cause  of  abolition  was  a  young  New 
Englander,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  who  had  become  editor  of  a 
paper,  the  Observer,  published  at  St.  Louis.  Lovejoy  was 
not  an  out-and-out  abolitionist,  like  Garrison ;  he  was  an 
upholder  of  the  freedom  of  the  press.  Soon  St.  Louis 
became  dangerous  for  the  outspoken  man  ;  he  removed  to 
Alton  in  Illinois,  where  he  would  be  in  a  free  state.  But 
there  was  no  toleration  for  abolitionists  or  the  upholders 
of  free  speech  in  that  town,  and  Lovejoy  was  murdered 
while  striving  to  protect  his  printing  presses  from  those 

who  wished  to 
destroy  them 
(November, 

1837).  A  meeting  was  held  at  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  where 
Attorney-General  Austin  of  Massachusetts  defended  the 
attitude  of  those  opposed  to  the  antislavery  agitation  in  the 
North,  and  maintained  that  they  stood  where  the  Massa 
chusetts  men  of  Revolutionary  time  —  whose  portraits  hung 
on  the  walls  about  him  —  had  stood.  This  was  more  than 
one  Boston  man  could  bear ;  Wendell  Phillips  ascended  the 
platform,  and  in  burning  language  rebuked  the  "  recreant^ 
American"  who,  in  the  interests  of  the  slaveholders,  had 
"slandered  the  dead."  The  limit  of  endurance  had  been 
reached ;  public  opinion  in  New  England  began  to  change. 
In  1838  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  gave 
its  hall  to  an  antislavery  society  for  a  meeting,  and  the  Con 
necticut  legislature  repealed  its  black  laws.  Jackson's  ad 
ministration,  therefore,  marks  the  moment  of  that  change  in 
sentiment  on  the  question  which  was  to  determine  the  course 
of  the  history  of  the  United  States  for  the  next  generation. 


**'  1U> 


Jackson  s    War  on  the  Bank  403 

289.  Foreign  Relations,  1829-37.  —  Jackson  was  as  for-  Relations 
tunate  in  his  foreign  policy  as  Adams  had  been  unfortunate  ^lth  Gieat 
in  his.     Van  Buren,  Secretary  of  State  during  his  first  term,  schouler's 
supplied  the  qualities  needed  in  successful  diplomacy,  which  United 
Jackson  lacked  ;  the  President  was  an  outspoken  leader  of 

men,  the  secretary  a  shrewd  politician.  Owing  to  the  re 
fusal  of  Congress  to  open  the  ports  of  the  United  States  to 
British  shipping,  Great  Britain  had  closed  the  West  India 
ports  to  United  States  vessels.  Canning  died  in  1829,  and 
in  the  ministry  which  followed,  Lord  Aberdeen  was  foreign 
minister.  He  listened  to  Jackson's  overtures  ;  Congress 
removed  many  restrictions  on  British  commerce,  and  Great 
Britain  opened  the  West  India  ports  to  the  commerce  of 
the  United  States. 

With  France  there  was  a  long-standing  dispute  as  to  the    Relations 

payment  for  spoliations  on  American  commerce  committed   with  France. 
*.  '  Schouler's 

since    1803.     In    1830  the  French  government  agreed  to    united 

pay  five  million  dollars  as  an  indemnity  to  the  United  States,   states,  ill, 
but  the  French  legislature  refused  to  make  the  necessary  504,1^,239. 
appropriations.     At   one    time,  it   seemed  as  if  war  were 
about  to  break  out  between  the  two  countries.     In  the  end, 
France   gave  way  and  paid   the   money  (1835).     Jackson 
also  secured  the  settlement  of  long-standing  disputes  with 
Denmark  and  Spain,  and  brought  other  nations,  like  Austria, 
to  recognize  the  importance    of  having  friendly  relations 
with  the  United  States. 

290.  Jackson's  War  on  the  Bank.  —  The  Second  United   The  Second 
States  Bank  had  been  chartered  in  1816,  five  years  after  the   United  States 
older  institution  associated  with  Hamilton  had  come  to  an   *schouler's 
end  by  limitation.     In  the  case  of  McCulloch  vs.  Maryland    United 
(1819),   the  Supreme  Court,   through   Chief  Justice  John   states'  IV- 
Marshall,  had    decided  that  the  charter  of  the   Bank  was 

legal  and  constitutional  (p.  350),  and  this  decision  had  been 
affirmed  in  r824  in  a  subsequent  decision.     Jackson,  never-   jackson's 
theless,   felt  a  dread  of  the   Bank,  and  he  did  not  regard    views  as  to 
Marshall's  decision  as  in  any  way  binding  on  the  Executive.   the  Bank' 
The   President    disliked   the  Bank  because   he  saw  in  it  a 


404  The  National  Democracy  [§  290 

great  monopoly  stretching  its  arms  over  the  whole  country, 
able  to  determine  by  its  action  whether  one  section  or 
another  should  be  developed  to  its  utmost.  Furthermore, 
Jackson  thought  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  a 
political  machine,  carried  on  in  the  interests  of  his  enemies. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  it  had  been  badly  conducted  during 
the  first  years  after  1816,  but  for  many  years  before  1829  it 
had  been  adrnirably  managed  by  its  president,  Nicholas 
Biddle.  The  capital  of  the  country  was  mainly  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  had  slight  confidence  in  Jackson,  and  the  cus 
tomers  of  the  Bank  were  undoubtedly  composed  to  a  great 
extent  of  his  opponents.  Finally,  Jackson,  and  those  be 
hind  him,  with  their  strict  constructionist  views,  could 
hardly  help  reverting  to  the  interpretation  of  Jefferson 
(p.  272),  and  regarding  the  bank  charter  as  beyond  the 
power  granted  to  Congress  in  the  Constitution.  Jackson  at 
once  declared  his  open  hostility  to  the  Bank,  and  Henry 
Clay  as  eagerly  championed  the  cause  of  the  great  institu 
tion.  As  time  went  on,  Jackson  became  more  and  more 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  his  suspicions,  that  the  Bank  was 
a  great  political  machine.  This  was  especially  made  evi 
dent  to  him  by  the  appointment  of  a  strong  opponent  of  his 
party  as  head  of  the  branch  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 
The  Jacksonian  leaders  in  that  state  protested.  The  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  wrote  to  President  Biddle  remonstrating 
against  what  he  regarded  as  a  political  appointment  and 
suggested  that  the  officers  of  the  Bank  should  be  appointed 
without  regard  to  political  preferences.  Mr.  Biddle,  in  re 
ply,  denied  the  secretary's  right  to  interfere,  at  the  same 
time  asserting  that  the  Bank  was  conducted  without  regard 
to  politics. 

Clay  In  1832,  four  years  before  the  charter  of  the  Bank  would 

champions      expire,  and  when  Jackson's  opponents,  although  in  a  maior- 

the  cause  of      .       .       „, 

the  Bank         ltv  m  Congress,  had  not  sufficient  votes  to  pass  a  bill  over 

1832.  Jackson's  veto,  Clay  brought  in  a  bill  to  recharter  the  Bank. 

Jackson  promptly  vetoed  it,  and  the  bill  could  not  be  passed 

over  his  veto.     The  matter,  therefore,  became  one  of  the 


1833] 


Removal  of  the  Deposits 


405 


*Schouler's 
United 
States,  IV, 
132-170. 


leading  issues  in  the  campaign  of  1832.  It  seems  extraor 
dinary  that  a  man  of  Clay's  political  experience  should  have 
hazarded  victory  or  defeat  on  such  an  unpopular  issue. 
Jackson  asserted  with  truth  that  the  Bank  was  an  "  un- 
American  monopoly."  It  was  entirely  unlike  the  national 
banks  of  to-day,  as  a  national  bank  can  now  be  organized 
by  any  set  of  men  who  can  find  enough  money  to  deposit 
the  necessary  bonds  with  the  government.  The  people 
sympathized  most  warmly  with  Jackson  on  this  as  on  other 
issues. 

291.  Removal  of  the  Deposits,  1833.  —  One  of  the  chief  Removal  of 
arguments  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  the  Second  Bank,  the  deP°sits 
as  of  the  earlier  one,  was  the  facilities  it  gave  for  the 
collections  and  disbursements  of  the  government.  The 
revenues,  as  collected,  were  deposited  in  the  Bank  or  its 
branches,  and  payments  were  made  by  drafts  on  the  insti 
tution.  This  business  was  done  by  the  Bank  for  nothing,  as 
the  balances  kept  by  the  government  enabled  it  to  make  large 
sums  of  money  by  loans.  Apart  from  constitutional  and 
political  grounds,  and  granting  the  solvency  of  the  Bank, 
the  arrangement  was  most  advantageous  to  the  government, 
which  saved  all  the  money  afterwards  used  in  the  con 
struction  of  vaults,  the  payment  of  custodians,  and  the 
charges  of  transportation ;  it  was  advantageous  to  the  peo 
ple,  as  the  money  paid  to  the  government  was  not  with 
drawn  from  circulation  and  locked  up,  millions  at  a  time, 
in  the  government  vaults ;  and  it  was  advantageous  to  the 
Bank,  as  it  gave  it  a  larger  amount  of  business.  The  dis 
advantage  was  overbalancing  ;  at  any  time  the  Bank  might 
exercise  an  overwhelming  power  in  politics,  controlling  elec 
tions  by  money  and  starving  its  financial  opponents  into 
subjection  by  the  manipulation  of  exchanges  and  rates  of 
interest.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  reality  of  these  dangers, 
nor  is  there  any  doubt  that  the  Bank  had  taken  part  in  the 
campaign  of  1832.  The  charter  of  the  Bank  authorized 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  deposit  the  revenues  of  the 
government  with  other  banks  at  his  discretion,  stating  his 


406 


TJie  National  Democracy 


[§  292 


The  Senate 

censures 

Jackson. 

Jackson's 

Protest. 

MacDon- 

ald's 

Documents, 

Nos.  64,  68. 


Speculative 
mania,  1837. 


reasons  for  so  doing  to  Congress  ;  this  clause  had  been 
inserted  to  enable  the  government  to  deposit  funds  in  state 
banks  at  points  where  the  United  States  Bank  had  no 
branch.  Jackson  determined  to  use  it  to  secure  the  with 
drawal  of  all  the  government  funds  from  the  Bank.  It  was 
some  time,  however,  before  he  could  find  a  secretary  who 
would  do  his  bidding.  At  last  he  found  such  a  man  in 
Roger  B.  Taney  of  Maryland.  The  so-called  "  removal  of 
the  deposits  "  extended  over  a  period  of  six  months,  and 
was  not  so  much  a  removal  as  a  refusal  to  deposit  more 
funds  with  the  Bank  to  replace  those  drawn  out  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  business.  The  public  funds  were  then 
deposited  in  certain  specified  state  banks,  popularly  known 
as  the  "  pet  banks."  The  loss  of  so  large  a  proportion  of 
its  deposits  compelled  the  United  States  Bank  to  adopt 
severe  measures  to  protect  its  credit  and  to  meet  the  gov 
ernment  drafts.  It  called  in  large  sums  of  money  which 
were  on  loan,  and  this  action  brought  about  a  dangerous 
scarcity  of  money  before  affairs  settled  down  on  the  new 
basis. 

The  Senate  was  still  in  the  hands  of  Jackson's  enemies. 
Under  the  lead  of  Clay  and  Webster,  it  passed  a  vote  cen 
suring  the  President  for  what  he  had  done.  To  this  Jack 
son  replied  in  a  letter.  He  protested  against  the  action  of 
the  Senate  in  censuring  the  President,  which  could  only  be 
done  by  impeachment.  He  declared  that  the  chief  magis 
trate  was  entitled  to  interpret  the  Constitution  for  himself, 
and  that  he  was  not  bound  by  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  as  each  department  of  the  government  was  independ 
ent  of  the  other  two  departments.  Two  years  later  Jack 
son's  party  obtained  control  of  the  Senate,  and  the  vote  of 
censure  was  crossed  out  of  the  Journal  of  that  body. 

292.  Distribution  of  the  "  Surplus, "  1837.  —  Historical 
students  seem  to  be  fairly  well  agreed  that  the  check  placed 
on  the  power  of  the  United  States  Bank  by  the  removal  of 
the  deposits  was  in  itself  a  wise  action,  apart  from  the  con 
stitutional  and  political  questions  involved.  The  mode  and 


1837] 


Distribution  of  the  "Surplus" 


407 


time  chosen  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose,  how 
ever,  were  most  unfortunate.  The  one  institution  which 
possessed  the  ability  to  set  bounds  to  reckless  inflation  and 
speculation  was  deprived  of  a  great  part  of  its  power  to  do 
good,  and  nothing  was  put  in  its  place.  The  government, 
so  far  from  putting  a  check  on  the  speculative  frenzy  which 
had  taken  possession  of  the  people,  actually  increased  it. 
Then,  at  last,  becoming  alarmed,  Jackson  interfered  in  his 
masterful  way  and  gave  the  signal  for  widespread  financial 
disaster. 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  1835,  tne  ^ast  installment  of    Surplus 
the  national  debt  was  paid ;  the  government  owed  nothing   "  deP°slted 

3    with  the 

and  was  collecting  about  thirty-five  millions  per  year  more  states. 
than  it  could  reasonably  spend  on  objects  which  the  strict 
constructionists  of  the  Jacksonian  school  regarded  as  within 
the  scope  of  the  powers  of  the  federal  government  under 
the  Constitution.  Moreover,  the  revenue  could  not  be 
diminished,  because  it  was  collected  in  pursuance  to  the 
Compromise  Tariff  Act  of  1833,  which  could  not  be  dis 
turbed  without  a  breach  of  faith  and  without  bringing  on 
a  political  crisis  that  no  one  desired  to  see.  At  the  present 
time,  the  government  can  hoard  its  surplus  revenues  in  the 
vaults  at  Washington  and  the  great  financial  centers ;  but 
the  independent  treasury  system  was  not  then  invented. 
No  one  thought  of  depositing  more  money  with  the  "  pet 
banks,"  which  already  held  eleven  millions.  They  were 
mostly  situated  in  the  speculative  regions  of  the  South  and 
West,  where  democratic  banks  were  abundant ;  for,  curi 
ously  enough,  the  administration  that  had  objected  to  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  as  a  political  institution  —  and 
it  was  not  at  the  time  the  objection  was  made  —  saw  noth 
ing  inconsistent  in  depositing  the  nation's  money  in  banks 
which  were  political  machines  and  little  else.  After  various 
attempts  to  relieve  the  treasury,  Calhoun  came  forward  with 
a  proposition  to  loan  without  interest  the  surplus  funds  to 
the  states,  in  proportion  to  their  representation  in  Congress. 
The  money  was  said  to  be  "  deposited  "  to  avoid  the  con- 


408 


The  National  Democracy 


[§293 


Paper 
money. 


Jackson's 

specie 

circular, 

1836. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  IV, 

257. 


stitutional  objection  that  Congress  had  no  power  to  raise 
money  by  general  taxation  to  pay  over  to  the  states.  Three 
quarterly  payments  were  made  ;  then  the  crash  came,  and 
the  government  found  itself  obliged  to  borrow  money  to  pay 
current  expenses. 

293.  The  Specie  Circular,  1836. — The  distribution  of 
the  surplus  was  the  last  thing  needed  to  induce  the  states, 
especially  the  newer  ones,  to  plunge  into  all  sorts  of  extrava 
gant  expenditures.  Especially  they  loaned  their  credit  to 
speculative  ventures,  and  piled  up  vast  debts  without  a 
thought  of  the  future.  This  speculative  fever  was  only  a 
reflection  of  what  was  everywhere  going  on  :  land  in  the 
Eastern  cities  was  rising  in  price  by  leaps  and  bounds ;  the 
public  lands  in  the  West  were  being  acquired  by  specula 
tors,  the  sales  increasing  from  three  million  dollars  in  1831 
to  twenty-five  millions  in  1836.  The  government,  at  that 
time,  issued  only  gold  and  silver.  The  administration  had 
endeavored  to  meet  the  legitimate  demand  for  a  larger  cir 
culating  medium  to  carry  on  the  business  of  the  country  by 
increasing  its  output  of  gold  and  silver  coins,  mostly  the  for 
mer,  and  by  making  certain  arrangements  with  the  deposit 
banks,  confining  their  circulation  to  bills  of  twenty  dollars  and 
over,  and  providing  that  they  should  keep  a  specie  reserve 
of  one  third  of  the  amount  of  their  circulation.  These 
measures  had  slight  effect ;  "  wild-cat "  banks  increased 
enormously,  and  the  flood  of  "  rag-money  "  poured  forth  by 
them  effectually  destroyed  whatever  good  the  government 
measures  might  have  done  under  ordinary  circumstances. 
Jackson,  against  the  advice  of  his  cabinet,  resolved  to  see  to 
it  that  the  government  no  longer  received  anything  save 
gold  and  silver  and  notes  of  specie-paying  banks  in  payment 
for  the  public  lands,  and  issued  a  circular  to  this  effect, 
—  hence  called  the  "  specie  circular."  This  order  affected 
the  banks  in  the  newer  states  at  once  and  disastrously.  In 
the  end  it  helped  greatly  to  destroy  credit  everywhere. 
Loaning  rates  increased  in  some  cases  to  as  high  as  twenty- 
four  per  cent.  Before  the  full  results,  of  his  financial  policy 


1840] 


Independent   Treasury  Act 


409 


were  apparent,  Jackson  retired  from  office,  and,  confident 
that  the  "  specie  circular  "  would  restore  prosperity,  handed 
over  the  government  to  his  friend  and  successor,  Martin 
Van  Buren. 

294.  The  Independent  Treasury  Act,  1840.  —  Martin  Van 
Buren  was  regarded  by  his  contemporaries  as  a  self-seeking 
office- monger,  and  was   held   responsible  for  many  of  the 
evil  proceedings  of  "  Jackson's   reign."     This  was  natural 
enough;    for   Van    Buren,  who  was    not  popular  with   the 
people,  secured  the  Jacksonian  vote  by  pledging  himself 
to  carry  on  the  Jacksonian  policy.     But  he  was  no  mere 
politician ;    indeed,   during  the  critical  years  of  his  presi 
dency  he  showed  himself  to  be  a  man  of  principle,  able  to 
withstand   popular  clamor  and   to  bear  the   strain  of  the 
unmerited  distrust  of  his   fellow-men.     The  reproach   that 
has  been  cast  upon  him  of  being  the  author  of  the  system 
of  proscription  of  one's  political  opponents,  which  so  un 
happily  mars  Jackson's  reputation,  does  not  appear  to  be 
well  founded.     It  is  probable  that  Van  Buren  regarded  that 
system  as  unjustifiable  and  did  something  to  mitigate  its 
severity. 

Jackson  was  scarcely  out  of  office  when  the  panic  came. 
All  the  state  banks  suspended  specie  payment,  and  many 
of  them  failed,  —  among  others,  the  "  pet  banks,"  with 
their  nine  millions  of  government  money.  Van  Buren  set 
himself  to  invent  a  plan  which  would  separate  the  financial 
business  of  the  government  from  the  financial  institutions 
of  the  country.  This  was  the  "independent  treasury" 
scheme,  or  the  "  subtreasury "  plan,  as  it  is  more  often 
called.  According  to  this  device,  which  became  law  in 
1840,  the  government  built  great  vaults  at  Washington, 
New  York,  Boston,  Charleston,  and  St.  Louis.  At  these 
places,  and  at  the  mints  in  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans, 
government  officials  were  to  receive  and  pay  out  the  gov 
ernment  funds. 

295.  The  Election  of  1840.  —  During  the  preceding  dec 
ade,  the  opponents  of  Jackson  had  become  welded  into  a 


Martin 
Van  Buren 
elected 
President, 
1836. 


The 

independent 

treasury 

scheme, 

1840. 

Scheduler's 

United 

States,  IV, 

276-290,  324. 


4io 


The  National  Democracy 


[§  295 


Election 

of  1840. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  IV, 

327-340; 

Stanwood's 

Elections, 

123-137. 


formidable  party.  The  Jackson  men,  after  calling  them 
selves  Democratic  Republicans,  had  dropped  the  Republi 
can,  and  now  became  knpwn  as  Democrats ;  the  Adams 
men,  or  National  Republicans  of  the  earlier  day,  had  as 
sumed  the  name  of  Whigs,  probably  to  distinguish  their 
reforming  tendencies  from  the  conservatism  of  the  Demo 
crats.  The  Whigs  also  employed  their  opponents'  popular 
methods,  and,  indeed,  outdid  them  in  appeals  to  the  passions 
of  the  multitude.  The  party  machinery  of  the  present  time 
was  already  organized  :  nominating  conventions,  party  plat 
forms,  torchlight  processions,  and  the  rest.  The  campaign 
of  1840  stands  out  in  marked  contrast  to  all  preceding  cam 
paigns  in  appeals  to 
the  eye  and  to  the 
senses.  Van  Buren 
was  a  candidate  for 
re-election,  and  the 
Whigs  nominated 
William  Henry  Har 
rison,  who  had  been 
their  candidate  in 
1836,  and  John  Tyler 
of  Virginia,  a  life 
long  Democrat  of  the 
extreme  Calhoun 
school.  "  Tippeca- 
noe  and  Tyler  too.!" 
became  the  war  cry 
of  those  opposed  to 
Van  Buren.  The 
Whigs  put  forward 
Van  Burenisrn."  They 
pictured  the  Democratic  candidate  as  "  indifferent  to  the 
sufferings  of  the  people,"  as  sitting  in  a  "  stuffed  chair"  in 
the  White  House,  and  as  eating  out  of  gold  spoons.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  eagerly  adopted  the  contemptuous 
assertion  of  a  Democratic  speaker,  that  Harrison  would  be 


Harrison'. 


Election  of  1840 


no  principles   save   "  Down   with 


1841]  Tylers  Administration  411 

satisfied  if  he  were  given  a  log  cabin  and  a  barrel  of  cider. 
Log  cabins  were  erected  everywhere ;  they  were  dragged 
around  on  wheels  with  men  drinking  cider  before  the  doors. 
The  campaign  was  one  of  "  hurrah  for  Tippecanoe,"  the 
log-cabin,   cider-drinking  candidate.     The  Whigs  won  not 
merely  the  presidency,  but  with  it  a  majority  in  both  houses 
of  Congress.     A  month  after  his  inauguration,  Harrison  was   Death  of 
dead.     For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  country,  a   Harrison. 
Vice-President  became  President  owing  to  the  death  of  his   ^^J* : 

chief.  States,  IV, 

296.    Tyler's  Administration,   1841-45. — The   first   ses-  359-365- 
sion  of  the  first  Congress  under  the  new  administration  was 
held  in  May,  1 84 1 .    It  at  once  became  apparent  that  the  trium 
phant  Whigs  could  not  carry  out  their  policy,  and  President 
Tyler  was  confronted  by  a  hostile  majority  in  both  houses  of 
Congress.     Tyler  was  a  Whig  only  in  the  sense  that  he  was   John  Tyler, 
opposed  to  Jacksonianism,  in  so  far  as  it  departed  from  the    President, 
old  Jeffersonian  lines.     In   other  respects,  he  was  a  strict 
constructionist  and  a  firm    states'-rights    man.     Clay,  who 
was  the  real  leader  of  the  Whig  party,  at  once  brought  for 
ward  a  set  of  measures  of  reform,  as  they  were  conveniently 
regarded.     The  first  of  them,  to  repeal  the    Independent 
Treasury  Act  of  1840,  passed  easily  enough.    When  it  came   Tyler  and 
to  chartering  a  new  national  bank,  however,  it  was  found   the  Whlss- 

,     Schouler's 

that   lyler  was  opposed  to  the  measure  on    constitutional    united 
grounds.     It  was  understood  that  he  would  consent  to  the   states,  iv, 
establishment  of  a  bank  in  the  District  of  Columbia  with   372' 
branches  in  such  of  the  states  as  were  willing  to  have  them 
within  their  limits.    A  bill  passed  both  houses,  with  the  pro 
vision  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  without  the  provision 
for  state  assent ;  Tyler  vetoed  it,  and  the  Whigs  had  not  the 
necessary  two-thirds  vote  to  pass  it  over  his  veto.     A  bill 
was  drawn  up  for  the  establishment  of  a  "  fiscal  corporation  " 
in  the  federal  district,  with  branches,  which  should  not  ex 
ercise  full  banking  privileges.     This  bill  was  elaborated  after 
conferences  with  Tyler,  and  his  assent  to  it  was  supposed  to 
be  assured ;   when  it   came   to    him    for  his    signature,  he 


412 


The  National  Democracy 


[§297 


Tariff  of 

1842. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  IV, 

406. 


Northeastern 

boundary 

dispute. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  IV, 

396-403. 


vetoed  it.  Every  member  of  the  cabinet  resigned,  except 
Webster,  who  remained  to  conclude  important  negotiations 
with  Great  Britain. 

More  revenue  was  urgently  needed,  and  the  Compromise 
Tariff  of  1833  (p.  398)  having  run  its  course  was  now  capa 
ble  of  amendment.  The  Whigs,  therefore,  brought  in  a 
tariff  bill  considerably  increasing  the  duties  from  the  twenty 
per  cent  basis,  which  had  just  been  reached ;  the  bill,  as 
first  passed,  also  contained  a  provision  for  the  distribution 
of  surplus  revenue  among  the  states.  This  measure  was  one 
of  those  to  which  Tyler  had  objected  in  Jackson's  time. 
He  vetoed  the  bill,  and  it  was  not  until  it  came  before  him 
without  this  clause  that  he  signed  it.  The  other  measures 
provided  for  the  payment  to  the  states  of  the  money  re 
ceived  from  the  sales  of  public  lands ;  this  would  have  dis 
guised  the  fact  that  the  government  was  collecting  more 
revenue  under  the  new  tariff  than  it  could  properly  expend. 
The  friends  of  a  low  tariff,  however,  secured  an  amendment 
whereby  the  distribution  should  take  place  only  when  the 
tariff  on  imports  should  fall  below  twenty  per  cent  ad  valorem. 
This  clause  rendered  the  bill  inoperative,  as  the  duties  never 
fell  to  that  point. 

297.  The  Ashburton  Treaty,  1842.  —  Daniel  Webster, 
whom  Harrison  had  selected  as  Secretary  of  State,  had 
opened  negotiations  with  Lord  Ashburton,  British  minister 
at  Washington,  for  a  settlement  of  the  long-standing  dispute 
with  Great  Britain,  as  to  the  northeastern  boundary  of  the 
United  States.  The  negotiators  of  the  treaty  of  1783  had 
plainly  intended  to  give  Canada  the  same  southern  boundary 
eastward  that  it  had  had  according  to  the  Proclamation  of 
1763  (p.  117).  This  line  followed  the  forty-fifth  parallel 
from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Connecticut,  and  thence  along 
"  the  highlands  which  divide  the  rivers  that  empty  them 
selves  into  the  River  St.  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall 
into  the  sea."  These  words  were  repeated  in  the  treaty, 
except  that  "  Atlantic  Ocean "  was  substituted  for  "  the 
sea,"  and  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  United  States  was 


1842],  The  AsJiburton  Treaty  413 

declared  to  be  "  formed  by  a  line  drawn  from  the  source 
of  St.  Croix  River  to  the  Highlands."  In  maps  printed  in 
Great  Britain  immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  peace, 
this  line  was  merely  copied  from  earlier  maps  showing  the 
southern  boundary  of  Quebec  according  to  the  Proclama 
tion  of  1763.  But  when  the  time  came  to  run  the  line  on 
the  spot,  the  British  government  raised  innumerable  diffi 
culties.  First,  there  was  a  dispute  about  the  identity  of 
the  St.  Croix  River ;  that  was  set  at  rest  by  the  discovery 
of  the  ruins  of  De  Monts's  houses  (p.  50).  Then  the 
British  advanced  the  theory  that  the  "  Highlands "  men 
tioned  in  the  treaty  were  not  those  intended  in  the  procla 
mation,  but  were  much  farther  south.  They  based  their 
argument  on  the  substitution  of  the  words  "  Atlantic  Ocean  " 
in  place  of  "the  sea,"  and  contended  that  the  St.  John's 
River  emptied  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  not  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  The  Highlands,  according  to  this  view, 
was  a  line  drawn  around  the  sources  of  the  Penobscot  and 
Kennebec,  and  not  the  water  parting  between  the  St.  John's 
and  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  dispute  was  referred  to  the 
king  of  the  Netherlands  as  arbiter.  Instead  of  deciding  in 
favor  of  one  of  the  contending  governments,  he  proposed 
a  compromise  line,  which  he  had  no  right  to  do  (1829). 
Meantime,  the  United  States  had  built  a  fort  at  Rouse's 
Point  on  Lake  Champlain.  This  point  was  south  of  the 
forty-fifth  parallel  according  to  old  surveys,  but  more  accu 
rate  observations  showed  that  it  was  really  north  of  that 
parallel  and  therefore  in  Canada.  The  controversy  was  Ashburton 
now  settled  by  Webster  and  Ashburton,  by  the  adoption  of  Treaty'  l842- 
a  compromise  line  on  the  northeast  (the  present  northeast 
ern  boundary  of  Maine)  and  the  cession  of  Rouse's  Point 
to  the  United  States.  At  the  same  time,  the  extradition 
of  certain  specified  classes  of  criminals  was  agreed  to,  and 
a  long  series  of  negotiations  for  the  suppression  of  the 
African  slave  trade  was  arranged  by  the  conclusion  of  what 
was  called  the  "  cruising  convention,"  which  obliged  each 
nation  to  keep  a  squadron  of  a  certain  strength  always 


414  The  National  Democracy  [§  297 

cruising  on  the  African  coast.  This  arrangement  produced 
less  valuable  results  than  its  authors  expected ;  but  Webster 
followed  his  Whig  colleagues  into  retirement,  convinced  that 
he  had  done  something  "for  the  peace  of  the  world."  Be 
fore  long  Calhoun  succeeded  him  as  Secretary  of  State. 


SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 

§§  273~279-   THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1830 

a.  Examine  the  maps  on  pp.  299  and  383,  and  tabulate  the  growth 
of  the  several  states;   arrange  the  free  and  the  slave  states  in  separate 
columns. 

b.  Bring  to  class  digests  of  the  lives  of  Robert  Fulton  and  De  Witt 
Clinton. 

§§  271,  272,  280.  ANDREW  JACKSON 

a.  Study  the  career  of  Andrew  Jackson  under  the  following  heads : 
personal  appearance,  personal  influence;   preparation  for  public  life; 
military  career,  strength  and  weakness  of  character;    importance  of 
his  administrations;    has  his  influence  on  politics  been  good  or  bad  ? 

b.  The  constitutional  theories  of  Jackson's  party;    state  them  at 
length;   how  much  of  them  can  you  find  in  our  political  system  to-day? 

c.  Rise  of  the  Spoils  System :    study  it  in  a  larger  book  and  say 
whether  Jackson's  course  was  the  result  or  the  cause  of  the  Spoils 
System. 

§§  281-284.  THE  NULLIFICATION  EPISODE 

a.  Why  was  "  state  interposition  "  the  "  weapon  of  the  minority  "  ? 

b.  Define  sovereignty.     What  is  your  idea  of  a  state  ?  of  a  nation? 

c.  Compare  Jackson's  action  in  1832-33  with  Buchanan's  inaction 
in  I 860-61. 

d.  Had  the  South  a  real  grievance  in  1832  ?     What  was  it  ?     Give 
precedents  for  nullification. 

e.  Was  it  fortunate  or  unfortunate  that  the  dispute  was  compromised 
in  1833  ?     Give  reasons. 

§§  285-288.  ANTISLAVERY  AGITATION 

a.  Slavery :  has  the  history  of  any  modern  nation  other  than  the 
United  States  been  profoundly  affected  by  slavery  ?  What  effect  would 
slavery  in  a  new  country  be  likely  to  have  upon  free  white  immigra 
tion,  and  why  ? 


Questions  and  Topics  415 

b.  Were  the  "gag  resolutions"  a  direct  violation  of  the  Constitu 
tion  ?  Give  reasons.  What  was  the  case  as  to  "  incendiary  publica 
tions  "  ? 

§§  290-294.  FINANCIAL  AFFAIRS,  1830-40 

a.  Supposing  the  "removal  of  deposits"  to  have  been  justifiable, 
was  the  mode  in  which   it  was   done  expedient  ?     Does   the  federal 
government  now  deposit  money  with  the  national  banks  ? 

b.  Discuss  the  minor  constitutional  questions  involved  :    (i)  Jack 
son's  assumption  of  responsibility  ;    (2)   right  of  the  Senate  to  censure 
the  President  ;    (3)  right  of  the  President  to  protest ;    (4)  right  of  the 
Senate  to  expunge  resolutions  from  its  Journal. 

c.  The  Independent  Treasury  system  :   describe  it  and  trace  its  his 
tory  to  the  present  time  ;   how  are  government  payments  made  to-day  ? 

d.  State  carefully  the  effects  upon  the  crisis  of  1837  of  (0  develop 
ment  of  machinery,  (2)  government  deposits  in  state  banks  and  the 
distribution  of  the  surplus,    (3)    contraction  of  loans  by  the  United 
States  Bank,  (4)  Specie  Circular. 

§  295.   ELECTION  OF  1840 

a.  Trace  the  formation  of  the  Whig  party.     Was  the  Democratic 
party  of  1840  any  more  the  successor  of  the  Republican  party  of  1801 
than  was  the  Whig  party  ?     Give  your  reasons. 

b.  If  you  had  lived  in  1840,  what  party  would  you  have  favored  and 
why  ?     What  would  have  been  the  case  in  1824  ? 

§§  296-297.  TYLER'S  ADMINISTRATIONS 

a.  Public  lands  :    review   history  since  1780;    describe    Jefferson's 
and  Gallatin's  attitude  towards  ;   note  as  a  party  issue  until  the  Civil 
War  ;   what  is  the  present  policy  as  to  public  lands  ? 

b.  The  tariff  :  review  history  since   1816  ;   how  long  were  the  low 
rates   of  the  compromise   tariff  of  1833  ^n  actual   operation  ?  sketch 
briefly  the  history  of  the  tariff  in  Great  Britain,  1816-44. 

c.  Trace   the  history  of  the  Northeastern  Boundary  Dispute  from 
1783,  and  describe  the  settlement  made  in  1842.     Represent  in  colors 
this  history  upon  a  sketch  map. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Compare  the  leading  men  of  this  period  with  those  of  the  period 
of  the  Federalist  supremacy  and  with  those  of  the  Jeffersonian  epoch. 

b.  Review  your  notes  on  "Slavery,"  "Financial  history,"  "  Particu 
larism,"  and  prepare  for  continuous  recitation. 

c.  Represent  upon  a  chart  the  origin  and  varying  fortunes  of  the 
different  parties  which  have  appeared  up  to  1844. 


41 6  The  National  Democracy 

d.  Reports  based  on  study  of  secondary  authorities  :  assign  to 
individual  students  the  lives  of  the  persons  mentioned  in  §  279,  also 
the  lives  of  Garrison  and  of  Phillips. 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 
(See  note  under  this  head  on  p.  48.) 

a.  Summarize  the  arguments  (i)  of  Hayne,  (2)  of  Webster,  (3)  of 
Calhoun  (393,  first  group,  last  two). 

b.  Compare  arguments  (l)  of  Hayne  and  Webster,  (2)  of  Webster 
and  Calhoun  (393,  first  group,  last  two). 

c.  The  Faneuil  Hall  meeting  (402,  second  group). 

d.  Tabulate  the   electoral  vote   of  1840,  and  compare  it  with  the 
electoral  votes  of  1824  and  of  1844. 


CHAPTER    XI 

SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES,  1844-1859 

Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.—  Johnston's  American  Politics,  149-189;  Wil 
son's  Division  and  Reunion,  141-204. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Lodge's  Webster  (S.  S.) ;  Schurz's  Clay  (S.  S.)  ; 
Von  Hoist's  Calhoun  (S.S.) ;  Dawes's  Sumner  (M.  A.) ;  Schouler's 
United States ;  *Rhodes's  United  States,  especially  vol.  I,  ch.  iv  (slavery)  ; 
*Greeley's  American  Conflict;  *Goodell's  Slavery ;  Clarke's  Anti- 
Slavery  Days ;  *Draper's  Civil  War ;  *Taussig's  Tariff  History ; 
Adams's  Dana  ;  Spring's  Kansas  (A.  C.);  Larned's  History  for  Ready 
Reference ;  Wilson's  Presidents.  Larger  biographies  of  the  leading 
statesmen,  Guide,  §  25. 

Sources.  —  American  History  Leaflets  ;  Benton's  Abridgment  and 
Thirty  Years'  View;  M.a.cDona\d's  Documents  ;  Williams's  Statesman's 
Manual ;  Greeley's  Slavery  Extension ;  Johnston's  American  Ora 
tions.  Writings  of  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §§  32,  33. 

Maps.  —  Mac  Coun's  Historical  Geography;  Hart's  Epoch  Maps, 
Nos.  7,  8,  II,  12. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  S^  a,  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  189-202  (Topics  and  References). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  McCulloch's  Men  and  Measures ;  Sar- 
gent's  Public  Men  ;  Elaine's  Twenty  Years;  Bruce's  Houston  (M.  A.)  ; 
Garrisons'  Garrison ;  Ripley's  War  with  Mexico ;  Grant's  Personal 
Memoirs ;  Wise's  Seven  Decades ;  Pike's  First  Blows  of  the  Civil 
War;  May's  Recollections;  *Stephens's  War  between  the  States ;  San- 
born's_/0/&w  Brown;  Pollard's  Lost  Cause;  Frederick  Douglass's  Life 
and  Times  ;  Elson's  Side  Lig/its  on  American  History. 

Lowell's  Biglow  Papers,  Ode  to  Garrison,  and  Fugitive  Slaves; 
Longfellow's  Poems  on  Slavery ;  Whittier's  Angels  of  Buena  Vista 
and  Anti-slavery  Poems  ;  Tourgee's  Hot  Plowshares;  Eliot's  Story  of 
Archer  Alexander;  Bret  Harte's  Tales  of  the  Argonauts,  and  other 
stories  of  California  life. 

SLAVERY   IN  THE  TERRITORIES,  1844-1859 

298.  Necessity  for  More  Slave  Territory.  —  In  the  great 
material  expansion  which  had  marked  the  period  since  the  population. 


Slavery  in  the   Territories  [§  298 

close  of  the  War  of  1812, —  more  especially  the  years  suc 
ceeding  Jackson's  election, —  the  South  had  enjoyed  a  share. 
Slaveholding  states  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  had  been  ad 
mitted  to  the  Union,  and  three  slaveholding  states  had 
been  formed  out  of  territory  comprised  in  the  Louisiana 
Purchase.  The  older  Southern  states  had  grown  slowly, 
and  had  been  outstripped  by  the  older  Northern  states, 
while  the  free  states  of  the  Northwest  had  developed  with 
startling  rapidity.  The  census  of  1840  plainly  showed  that 
the  Southern  states  as  a  whole  were  falling  behind  in  popu 
lation  and  wealth  when  compared  with  the  Northern  states 
as  a  whole  —  for  negro  slavery  was  adapted  only  to  agricul 
tural  employments. 

Undue  Up  to  this  time,   the  Southern  voters   had    enjoyed   an 

power  c  undue,  even  a  controlling  power  in  the  national  councils, 
owing  to  the  operation  of  the  "federal  ratio"  (p.  238), 
which  gave  them  representation  in  the  lower  branch  of  the 
federal  Congress  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  numbers. 
The  North  had  developed  so  fast  that  there  was  no  longer 
any  hope  of  retaining  control  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.  The  Southerners'  only  hope  lay  in  the  formation 
of  new  slave  states,  each  of  which,  regardless  of  popula 
tion,  would  send  two  senators  to  Washington.  It  might  be 
possible,  perhaps,  to  convert  one  or  more  of  the  free  states 
to  slavery;  but  no  state  which  had  once  been  free  soil  had 
ever  returned  to  slavery.  It  was  also  possible  to  break  the 
Missouri  Compromise  —  as  had  already  been  done  (p.  400) 
—  and  build  up  slave  states  in  the  unorganized  national 
domain  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  easiest  way  to  ac 
complish  their  end,  however,  was  to  acquire  new  territory 
more  suitable  to  slavery  than  that  west  and  north  of 
Missouri.  Texas  offered  the  best  chance,  and  to  its 
acquisition  the  Southern  leaders  bent  all  their  energies. 
Meantime,  the  never-ceasing  efforts  of  the  Northern 
abolitionists  were  beginning  to  bear  fruit.  Slowly  but 
surely  they  were  bringing  the  mass  of  the  people  in  the 
North  to  regard  slavery  as  morally  wrong.  The  time  was 


1 845] 


Annexation  of  Texas 


419 


not  far  distant  when  Northern  public  opinion  would  be  fixed 
on  one  point:  that  slavery  should  not  blacken  more  of  the 
soil  of  the  United  States.  The  Southerners,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  unanimous  that  "expansion  was  as  necessary  to 
the  increased  comfort  of  the  slave,  as  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  master." 

299.  The  Annexation  of  Texas,  1845.  —  Texas  had  Prac- 
tically  been  seized  by  emigrants  from  the  Southern  states. 
They  had  over 
turned  its  constitu 
tion  as  one  of  the 
states  of  the  Mexi 
can  Republic;  had 
adopted  a  new  con 
stitution,  permitting 
slavery;  and,  under 
the  leadership  of 
Samuel  Houston, 
had  proclaimed 
their  independence 
(1836).  Mexico  had 
failed  to  conquer 
the  rebellious  prov 
ince,  and  Texas  had 
been  recognized  as 
an  independent 
state  by  the  United 
States  and  by  several  European  powers.  The  people  of 
Texas  desired  to  be  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  slave  state, 
and  the  Southerners  were  desirous  that  this  wish  should  be 
granted.  It  proved,  however,  to  be  a  most  difficult  matter 
to  manage.  It  would  certainly  arouse  dangerous  excite 
ment  in  the  North,  and  for  this  reason  both  Jackson  and 
Van  Buren  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Tyler,  a 
slave  owner  of  the  Calhoun  school,  had  no  such  scruples. 
With  the  profoundest  secrecy,  he  and  Calhoun,  who  was 
now  ^Secretary  of  State,  negotiated  a  treaty  of  annexation. 


Samuel  Houston 


Independ 
ence  of 
Texas,  1836. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  IV, 

247-257, 
302-307. 


Southerners 
desire 
annexation 
of  Texas. 


420 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


[§299 


Election 
of  1844. 
Stanwood's 
Elections, 
140-160. 


Annexation 
of  Texas, 
1845. 


This  was  laid  before  the  Senate  for  ratification.  That  body 
refused  to  assent  to  it  (1844),  and  the  controversy  became 
the  leading  issue  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  that  year. 
The  Democrats  nominated  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee. 
In  their  platform,  they  declared  for  the  annexation  or  re- 
annexation  of  Texas  and  for  the  reoccupation  of  Oregon. 
The  latter  territory  was  too  far  north  for  the  economical 
development  of  slavery,  and  its  addition  was  coupled  with 
that  of  Texas  to  make  the  acquisition  of  this  vast  slave 

territory  more  palatable 
to  the  people  of  the 
North.  The  Whigs 
nominated  Clay,  and 
the  abolitionists,  who 
were  now  gathered  into 
a  party  of  their  own, 
—  the  Liberty  party, 
—  also  nominated  a 
candidate,  and  thereby 
insured  the  election  of 
the  Democratic  nomi 
nee.  In  point  of  fact, 
it  was  difficult  for  an 
opponent  of  slavery  to 
choose  between  the  two 
leading  candidates. 
Clay  did  not  seem  to 
Election  of  1844  know  hjs  own  mind 

on  the  subject;  he  said  one  thing  one  day,  another  thing 
another  day.  Polk,  on  the  contrary,  declared  for  an 
nexation,  and  was  elected.  His  election  decided  the 
matter;  Congress  at  once  passed  a  joint  resolution  ad 
mitting  Texas  to  the  Union  as  a  slave  state,  which  Tyler 
signed  as  one  of  his  last  acts  as  President.  Texas  gave  its 
formal  assent  on  July  4,  1845,  and  became  a  state  of  the 
American  Union.  According  to  the  Texans'  view  of  their 
boundaries,  the  new  state  extended  northward  to  the  forty- 


1846]  Mexican    War  421 

second  parallel;  the  resolution  admitting  Texas  provided,    Schouier's 
therefore,  that  slavery  should  not  exist  in  the  new  acquisi-    United 
tion  north  of  the  line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  (36°  30').   440-451, 
The  value  of  this  concession  was  disputed  by  the  Northern-   470,  486. 
ers,  Greeley  asserting  that  Texas  did  not  approach  within 
two  hundred  miles  of  the  compromise  line.     The  limits  of 
Texas  on  the  south  and  west  were  also  doubtful. 

300.    Mexican  War,  1846-48.  —  The  United  States  and   Boundaries 
Texas  contended  that  the  new  state  extended  as  far  south-   of  Texas. 
ward  and  westward  as  the  Rio  Grande.     This  river  had 


been  the  limit  of   Texas  in  1800,  when  Spain   ceded   it  states,  iv, 
back  to  France,  and  also  when  the  United  States  acquired  5l8> 
it  from  France  as  a  part  of  Louisiana  in  1803  (p.  318). 
As  one  of  the  states  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  however, 
Texas   had   extended   only  as   far   south   as   the    Nueces 
River.       Polk    decided    to   insist   on   the   former    inter 
pretation.       He    ordered    General   Zachary   Taylor,    who 
had  been  sent  to  Texas  with  about  four   thousand   men, 
to   cross   the   Nueces   River,    and   later   ordered   him   to 
advance  to  the  Rio  Grande.      The    Mexicans,  regarding 
this  forward   movement   as  an  invasion   of   their   rights, 
attacked  and  defeated  a  small  detachment  of  Taylor's  army. 
When  the  report  of  the  conflict  reached  Washington  (May, 
1846),  the  President  informed  Congress  that  "Mexico  has 
shed  American  blood  upon  American  soil.     War  exists, 
and  exists  by  the  act  of  Mexico  herself.  "     Congress  accepted   War  with 
the  issue  thus  raised,  and  war  followed.     The  Mexican  War   Mexic°. 
was  in  reality  an  attack  on  a  weak  nation  by  a  strong  one.    Schouier's 
It  happened,  however,  that  the  United  States  armies  in  the    United 
field  were  always   largely  outnumbered.      The  American   states*  IV- 
soldiers  won  renown  by  the  splendid  fighting  qualities  they   y,  1-61.' 
displayed,  and  the  chief  commanders  gained  great  military 
reputations.      The   victories    of  Palo    Alto,    Resaca   de    la 
Palma,    and    Buena    Vista    are    associated    with    Taylor's 
name  ;    those    of    Cerro    Gordo,    Contreras,    Churubusco, 
Molino  del  Rey,  and  Chapultepec  with  that  of  the  com 
mander  in  chief,  Winfield  Scott.     Many  of  those  who  after- 


42 2  Slavery  in  the   Territories  [§  3°° 

wards  played  an  important  part  in  the  Civil  War  received 
their  training  in  this  conflict;  Grant,  Thomas,  Lee, 
Jackson,  and  others  served  with  credit  in  various  capaci- 


Winfield  Scott 
After  a  daguerreotype  by  Gurney 


ties.  While  these  campaigns  were  in  progress  in  Mexico 
(1846,  1847),  other  expeditions  seized  California  and 
New  Mexico.  On  February  2,  1848,  a  treaty  was  signed 
at  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  which,  with  unimportant  amend 
ments,  was  ratified  by  both  parties.  This  agreement  pro- 


1846] 


Mexican    War 


423 


vided  that  the  United  States  should  pay  fifteen  million 
dollars  direct  to  Mexico,  and  some  three  millions  more  to 
American  citizens  who  held  claims  against  Mexico.  That 
republic,  on  its  part,  relinquished  to  the  United  States  all 
territory  north  of  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Gila  rivers;  the 
cession  comprised  Texas,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word, 
New  Mexico,  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  Arizona,  and  parts 


The  United  States,  1845 


of  Colorado  and  Wyoming.    ^ujmg^P|olk^ 

also,  the  boundary  of  the  United  States  on  the  northwest 

was  established  substantially  as  it  is  to-day. 

301  .   The  Oregon  Treaty,  1846.  —  That  portion  of  America   Oregon 

question, 
1818-46. 
Schouler's 

was  called  Oregon.  Its  northern  limit  had  been  defined  in 
1824  and  1825,  by  treaties  between  Russia  on  the  one  part, 
and  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  on  the  other,  as 
the  parallel  of  54°  40'  north  latitude  (p.  359).  The  owner- 


lying  west  of  the  water  parting  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Pacific  coast  systems  and  north  of  the  forty-second  parallel 


United 
States,  IV 


424 


Slavery  in  the  Territories 


[§301 


Title  of  the 

United 

States. 


Title  of 

Great 

Britain. 


ship  of  this  vast  region  had  remained  disputed  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain;  since  1818,  it  had  been 
occupied  jointly  by  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  the  two 
powers.  The  British  occupation  had  taken  the  form  of  fur 
trading;  that  of  the  United  States  was  actual  settlement  in 
the  fertile  valleys  accessible  through  the  passes  of  the  Cor 
dilleras.  The  title  of  the  United  States  was  extremely 
vague.  It  was  composed  of  many  elements:  (i)  the  dis 
covery  of  the  Columbia  River  by  Captain  Gray  in  the  Boston 
ship  Columbia  ;  (2)  the  assignment  under  the  Florida  treaty 
of  whatever  rights  the  Spaniards  might  have  gained  by  dis 
covery  and  exploration;  (3)  the  exploration  of  Lewis  and 
Clark ;  and  (4)  actual  settlement.  Many  other  points 
were  advanced,  but  these  were  the  principal  ones.  It  was 
not  argued  that  any  one  of  them  gave  a  good  title;  but 
it  was  argued  that,  taken  all  together,  they  constituted  a 
better  title  than  that  of  any  other  nation.  To  this  the 
British  negotiators  opposed  similar  shadowy  arguments; 
for  instance,  they  maintained  (i)  that  Drake  had  sailed 
along  the  coast  before  any  Spaniard;  (2)  that  the  Spanish 
rights  amounted  to  little  in  view  of  an  agreement  as  to  this 
coast  in  1790,  known  as  the  Nootka  treaty;  (3)  that  an 
English  navigator  had  made  a  more  thorough  exploration 
than  Gray  had  undertaken,  although  it  had,  in  fact,  been 
made  later,  and  had  been  based  on  information  furnished 
by  the  American;  and  (4)  that  the  British  fur-trading 
companies  had  practically  occupied  this  region.  These 
claims  were  so  vague  that  compromise  was  inevitable. 
In  1844,  however,  the  politicians  took  the  matter  up  as 
a  means  of^propidathig  jthe  North  as  to  Texas:  the  cries 
of  "All  Oregon  or  none,"  "  Fifty- four  forty,  or  fight," 
were  raised.  For  a  moment  it  seemed  as  if  the  United 
States  would  go  to  war  with  Great  Britain  and  Mexico  at 
the  same  time,  but  more  peaceful  counsels  prevailed.  For 
some  years  the  United  States  had  been  willing  to  continue 
the  forty-ninth  parallel  —  the  boundary  between  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods  and  the  Rockies — westward  to  the  Pacific 


1846]  The  Oregon   Treaty  425 

Ocean.     This  line  would  have  given  the  southern  end  of 
Vancouver  Island  to  the  United  States,  and  with  it  the  con 
trol  of  the  Strait  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  affording  the  best  Oregon 
route  from  the  Pacific  to  the  great  bays  and  sounds  between  treaty- 
Vancouver  Island  and  the  continent ;    but  Great  Britain  435  ' 
would  not  consent.     It  was  now  agreed  (1846)  that  the 
boundary  between  the  two  powers  should  be  the  forty-ninth 
parallel,   as  far  as  Vancouver  Sound,  and  should  thence 
follow  the  middle  of  the  channel  to  the  ocean. 

302.    The  Walker  Tariff,  1846. — The  triumphant  elec-   Tariff  of 
tion  of  Polk,  and  the  consequent  return  of  the  Democrats   *8t6'  , 

Schoulers 

to  power,  was  naturally  signalized  by  a  reversal  of  the  finan-    united 
cial  policy  of  the  Whigs,  and  a  return  to  that  of  the  pre-   states,  IV, 
ceding   decade.      This  change  was  brought  about  by  the  TsmssT's 
re-enactment  of  the  Independent  Treasury  Act,  and  by  the   state  Papers, 
passage  of  a  new  tariff  law.     The  former  was  substantially   214-251. 
a  repetition  of  the  act  of  1840  (p.  409) :  subtreasuries  were 
to  be  re-established  at  the  more  important  commercial  cen 
ters,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  safe  and  economical 
handling   of   the   public  moneys.     The  system  has  been 
modified  from  time  to  time  to  suit  the  growing  needs  of 
the  country,  but  its  essential  features  are  still  law. 

The  new  tariff  act  was  based  upon  the  recommendations 
of  Robert  J.  Walker,  Folk's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and 
is  always  called  the  Walker  Tariff.  Under  it,  imported 
articles  were  arranged  in  several  schedules,  —  A,  B,  C,  and 
D,  and  so  on  to  I,  which  included  articles  specifically  placed 
on  the  "  free  list."  Each  schedule  had  its  own  rate  of  duty  : 
schedule  A,  100%  ;  6,40%  ;  €,30%  ;  0,25%,  etc.  Articles 
not  included  in  these  schedules  were  to  pay  40%  ad  valo 
rem.  All  the  duties  were  calculated  on  a  valuation  made  in 
foreign  ports,  instead  of  so  much  on  the  valuation  of  the 
commodity  in  America.  This  arrangement  resulted  in  gross 
frauds,  and  inflicted  great  hardships  on  honest  importers. 
The  system  was,  as  Webster  declared,  "  not  free  trade,  but 
fraudulent  trade." 

The  country  was  very  prosperous  during  the  years  that  the 


426 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


[§302 


Prosperity, 
1846-57. 


Influence  of 
inventions. 


McCormick 
reaper. 


WTalker  Tariff  was  in  operation.  Many  writers  friendly  to 
free  trade  have  maintained  that  this  prosperity  was  due  to 
the  operation  of  the  Walker  Tariff,  which,  in  their  opinion, 
was  practically  a  free-trade  measure.  Other  students  point 
out  that  it  is  absurd  to  regard  it  as  a  free-trade  measure, 
since  the  reduction  on  the  rates  of  1842  was  only  about  one 
sixth.  They  argue,  moreover,  that  there  is  no  historical 

evidence  to  show  that 
this  comparatively 
slight  reduction  had 
any  considerable  in 
fluence  upon  the  com 
mercial  and  industrial 
development  of  the 
country.  They  con 
tend  that  the  remark 
able  prosperity  of 
the  country  between 
1846  and  1857  was 
due  to  its  rapid 
settlement,  which  was 
made  possible  by 
many  things  over 
which  tariff  legis 
lation  had  little  or 

(^  no     influence.       For 

instance,  there  was  a 

great  increase  in  foreign  immigration  in  these  years 
(p.  457)  and  the  railroad  system  of  the  country  was  greatly 
extended.  Inventions,  also,  marvelously  increased  the 
efficiency  of  human  labor  and  superintendence.  For  ex 
ample,  the  successful  introduction  of  the  electric  telegraph, 
owing  to  Morse's  invention  (1837),  made  it  possible  to 
operate  great  railway  systems ;  and  farming  on  a  large 
scale  was  immeasurably  promoted  by  the  introduction  of 
agricultural  machinery,  as  the  McCormick  reaper  (invented 
1831).  The  most  important  manufacture  of  the  United 


The    Walker  Tariff 


427 


States  until  recent  times  was  the  manufacture  of  farms,  and 
this  was  more  dependent  on  the  development  of  railroad 
transportation  and  farm  machinery  than  on  the  movement  of 
tariff  duties  within  the  narrow  limits  affected  by  the  Walker 
Tariff. 


Sutler's  mill 

303.  California,  1848-50.  —  On  the  24th  of  January, 
1848,  — ten  days  before  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo 
was  signed,  and  fully  three  months  before  it  was  ratified,  — 
James  W.  Marshall  discovered  several  bits  of  gold  in  the 
earth  taken  from  Colonel  Sutter's  mill  race  in  Coloma,  Cali 
fornia.  Further  investigation  confirmed  the  discovery,  and 
before  long  the  existence  of  gold  in  that  region  was  known 
throughout  the  world.  From  all  parts  of  the  United  States 


Discovery 
of  gold  in 
California, 
1848. 

Schouler's 
United 
States,  V. 
132. 


428 


Slavery  in  the  Territories 


[§303 


and  from  Europe,  gold  hunters  sought  the  new  Eldorado. 
Over  the  plains  and  the  Cordilleras,  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  and  around  Cape  Horn,  they  thronged  to  Cali 
fornia.  Most  of  them  came  from  the  northern  American 
states,  but  there  were  many  Southerners  as  well.  Before 
November,  1849,  more  than  eighty  thousand  immigrants  — 
"the  forty-niners,"  as  they  were  termed  —  reached  the  land 


California 
demands 
admission 
as  a  free 
state,  1849. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  V, 
142. 


The  United  States,   1853. 

of  promise.  Their  number  already  exceeded  that  necessary 
for  a  territorial  organization,  and  they  had  scarcely  any  gov 
ernment  at  all.  Compelled  by  necessity  to  establish  some 
form  of  government,  and  inspired  by  the  suggestions  made 
by  an  agent  sent  by  General  Taylor,  the  new  President,  they 
held  a  convention  (November,  1849),  drew  up  a  state  con 
stitution,  —  excluding  slavery,  - —  and  applied  for  admission 
to  the  Union  as  a  free  state.  Soon  Californian  commis 
sioners  appeared  at  Washington,  and  demanded  that  Cali 
fornia  should  be  admitted  as  a  free  state.  Congress  was  in 


1846]  The  Wilmot  Proviso  429 

this  way  forced  to  come  to  some  decision  as  to  the  disposal 
of  the  vast  domain  which  had  just  been  gained  from  Mex 
ico  ;  but  the  task  was  a  hard  one. 

304.    The   Wilmot    Proviso,    1846.  —  Even    before   the   The  wilmot 
Mexican  War  had  fairly  been  begun,  and  before  the  United   Provls°. 
States  had  gained  a  foot  of  Mexican  soil,  an  attempt  had   schouler's 
been  made  to  settle  this  question  in  favor  of  freedom.     The    United 


occasion  was  furnished  by  the  introduction  of  a  bill  to  pro-  J>  V 
vide  money  for  the  purchase  of  territory  from  Mexico. 
When  it  was  before  the  House,  David  Wilmot,  a  Democratic 
representative  from  Pennsylvania,  moved  an  amendment  in 
the  form  of  a  proviso  that  slavery  should  be  forbidden  in 
any  territory  thus  acquired.  The  bill,  with  the  amendment, 
passed  the  House,  but  failed  to  become  law,  as  the  Senate 
did  not  act  upon  it  until  the  House  had  adjourned  for  the 
session  (August,  1846).  In  the  new  Congress,  elected  the 
following  November,  the  Whigs  were  in  a  majority  in 
the  House,  but  the  Democrats  retained  control  of  the 
Senate.  Meantime,  the  leaders  of  the  latter  party  in  the 
South  had  made  up  their  minds  to  oppose  the  Wilmot  Pro 
viso  should  it  again  be  introduced.  Accordingly,  after  con 
siderable  delay,  an  appropriation  bill  was  passed,  without  the 
slavery  prohibition.  The  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  had 
added  some  eight  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  terri 
tory  to  the  national  domain,  most  of  it  lying  south  of  36°  30' 
north  latitude,  the  parallel  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line. 
Should  slavery  be  permitted  in  this  vast  region,  or  should 
the  principle  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  be  adhered  to?  The 
settlement  of  this  question  was  regarded  by  Southerners  as 
most  important  ;  it  appeared  scarcely  less  important  to  those 
Northerners  who  were  determined  that  a  limit  should  be  set 
to  the  extension  of  slavery.  This  controversy  dominated  all 
others  in  the  election  of  1848. 

305.  The  Election  of  1848.  —  No  fewer  than  five  political 
organizations  took  part  in  this  contest.  First  there  were 
the  Democrats,  who  nominated  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan,  a 
shrewd,  clear-headed  Northern  Democrat.  He  had  com- 


430 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


[§305 


Election  of 

1848. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  V, 

loo-no; 

Stanvvood's 

Elections, 

161-177. 


mended  himself  to  the  Southerners  by  the  advocacy  of  the 
doctrine  of  "  squatter  sovereignty,"  according  to  which  the 
people  of  each  territory  were  to  determine  the  question  of 
freedom  or  slavery  for  themselves.  This  idea  was  closely 
related  to  the  Democratic  doctrine  of  states'  rights,  and  its 
adoption  seemed  likely  to  prevent  a  split  in  that  party  on  the 
question  of  the  extension  of  slavery.  The  Whigs  nominated 


The  Barn 
burners. 


Election  of  1848 

General  Taylor  of  Louisiana  for  President,  and  Millard  Fill- 
more  of  New  York  for  Vice-President.  They  made  no  state 
ment  of  their  principles,  and  thus  endeavored  to  shirk  the 
question  of  the  greatest  interest  in  the  campaign.  By  this 
time,  the  slavery  controversy  had  gone  far  toward  bringing 
about  the  destruction  of  political  parties  in  the  North.  A 
section  of  New  York  Democrats,  bearing  the  curious  name 
of  "  Barn-burners,"  was  opposed  to  slavery  in  the  territories. 
Their  delegates  appeared  at  the  Democratic  convention  as 
rivals  to  another  group  of  delegates,  who  harbored  no  such 


1848] 


The  Election  of  1848 


431 


scruples.     The  convention  decided  to  admit  both  delega 
tions,  who  should   share   the  votes  j  of  New  York  between 


them ;    both    delegations    withdre 
with  the  assistance  of  delegates  fron 


held  a  convention  of  their  own,  ana  nominated  Martin  Van 


Buren.     Another   party,   the   "  Fre 


The    Barn-burners, 
a  few  other  states,  then 


-soilers,"   which    had  a  The  Free- 


larger  following,  held  a  convention  at  Buffalo.     Delegates   sollers' 
from  eighteen  states  appeared.     They  adopted  a  platform 
which   declared    for 
"  free  soil  for  a  free 
people."  They  main 
tained   that    slavery 
was  a  state  institu 
tion,  and  as  such  the 
general  government 
had     no     right     to 
meddle  with  it ;  but 
they      denied      the 
competence  of  Con 
gress  to  permit  slav 
ery  in  the  territories. 
They,     too,     nomi 
nated    Van    Buren. 
The    Liberty    party 
(p.  420)   also  held 
a    convention,    and 
nominated  a  candidate  of  its  own,  John  P.  Hale  of  New 
Hampshire ;  but  he  withdrew  in  favor  of  Van  Buren.     The 
election  was  very  close,  but  the  desertion  of  the  New  York   Election  of 
Democrats  caused  the  electoral  vote  of  that  state  to  be  given   Taylor- 
to  Taylor  and  Fillmore,  and  thus  decided   the  contest  in 
favor  of  the  Whigs. 

306.    Taylor's  Policy,  1849,  1850. — The  conflict  over  Slavery  in 
the  Wilmot  Proviso  and  the  presidential  campaign,  in  which   Politics. 
one  of  the  three  candidates  stood  for  the  limitation  of  slave 
territory,  had  at  last  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Northern 
people  to  the  cause  underlying  the  politics  of  the  time :  the 


William  Lloyd  Garrison 


The  Liberty 
party. 


432 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


[§306 


The 
abolitionists. 


existence  of  slavery  in  the  South  and  of  freedom  in  the 
North.  The  contest  had  not  merely  aroused  interest  and 
sentiment,  it  had  called  forth  a  dangerous  spirit  on  both 
sides  of  Mason,  and  Dixon's  line.  Southern  extremists  were 
determined  to  destroy  the  Union  if  the  principle  embodied 
in  the  Wilmot  Proviso  became  a  part  of  the  law  of  the 
land ;  Northern  extremists  were  desirous  of  destroying  the 
Union  if  slavery  were  not  abolished  in  the  slave  states, 
—  no  Wilmot  Proviso  would  satisfy  them.  The  Constitution 
was  in  the  way,  it  was  said.  The  abolitionists  answered  that 
the  North  should  withdraw  from  the  detestable  bargain,  and, 
paraphrasing  the  words  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  declared  that 
"the  Constitution  is  a  covenant  with  death,  and  an  agreement 
with  hell."  Other  Northern  extremists  were  determined  that 
the  further  extension  of  slavery  should  cease ;  as  to  slavery 
in  the  states,  they  contended  that  that  was  a  state  matter. 
Between  these  two  bodies  of  extremists  stood  the  mass  of  the 
people  of  both  sections,  who  were  desirous  to  put  the  whole 
matter  aside,  and  proceed  with  the  development  of  the 
country,  leaving  the  future  to  take  care  of  itself.  Of  South 
ern  moderates  were  men  like  Clay  and  Benton,  sincere 
lovers  of  their  country  and  anxious  to  prevent  sectional 
strife.  The  Northern  moderates  were  also  sincere  lovers 
of  their  country.  They  thought  as  little  about  the  slave 
question  as  possible,  —  if  the  Southerners  wished  to  ruin  the 
South  by  perpetuating  the  institution,  that  was  the  Southern 
ers'  business;  they  had  no  strong  moral  feelings  against 
slavery,  and  probably  disbelieved  most  of  the  facts  which 
the  abolitionists  were  ever  dinning  in  their  ears. 

The  new  President,  Zachary  Taylor,  was  a  Louisiana  sugar 
planter,  the  owner  of  a  hundred  slaves,  and  the  father-in- 
law  of  Jefferson  Davis,  one  of  the  senators  from  Mississippi. 
Like  most  Southern  men,  he  came  to  Washington  with  the 
142, 147- 159-  preconceived  idea  that  the  Northerners  were  the  aggressors  ; 
he  soon  discovered  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  small 
body  of  Northern  abolitionists,  who  exercised  no  political 
influence  at  Washington,  the  aggression  was  all  on  the  side 


Taylor's 
policy. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  V, 


1849] 


Taylor's  Policy 


433 


of  the  South.  Moreover,  he  speedily  fell  under  the  influence 
of  William  H.  Seward  of  New  York,  one  of  the  antislavery 
leaders  in  the  Senate.  Taylor  determined  to  settle  the 
matter  in  a  direct  soldierly  fashion.  He  sent  agents  to 
California  and  New  Mexico  urging  the  settlers  in  those  dis 
tricts  to  form  state  constitutions,  and  seek  admission  to 
the  Union.  California  at  once  complied.  When  Congress 
assembled  in  December,  1849, tne  President  announced  that 
California  asked  to  be  admitted  as  a  free  state.  The  South 
erners  were  beside  themselves — they  felt  that  the  richest 
country,  and  that  portion  best  suited  to  slavery  of  all  the 
vast  region  acquired  from  Mexico,  had  been  filched  from 
them.  The  matter  was  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
Texas  claimed  a  large  part  of  New  Mexico  as  rightfully 
belonging  to  her,  and  threatened  to  take  possession  by  force 
if  her  claims  were  not  allowed.  Jealous  of  his  successful 
rival,  as  some  writers  have  asserted,  or,  as  is  more  likely, 
fearful  lest  the  passions  already  aroused  would  lead  to  con 
flict,  Clay  determined  to  effect  a  compromise. 

307.  Compromise  of  1850.  —  Clay  proposed  to  settle  at 
one  and  the  same  time  all  the  disputes  which  had  grown 
out  of  the  slavery  contest.  His  scheme  is  always  spoken  of 
as  a  compromise,  and  so  it  was  in  the  ordinary  meaning  of 
the  word ;  but  the  South  gained  so  much  more  than  the 
North  that  its  adoption  was  in  reality  a  victory  for  the  slave 
power.  The  only  concession  to  the  North  was  the  prohibi 
tion  of  the  slave  trade  within  the  District  of  Columbia. 
California  was  to  ff  /7 

be  admitted  as  a  /*««•    /* 
free    state.     The  /^ 

Southerners  re 
garded  this  as  a 
great  surrender  to 
Northern  senti 
ment;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  understand  how  the 
demand  of  California  for  admission  as  a  free  state  could 
have  been  refused  by  them  in  view  of  the  doctrine  of  "  squat- 


Clay's 

compromise 

propositions, 

1850. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  V, 

161-170, 

195-199 ; 

MacDonald's 
Documents, 
Nos.  78-83. 


434 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


[§307 


Clay's  views 
on  the  crisis. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  1, 120 ; 
Johnston's 
Orations,  II, 
202-218. 


Calhoun's 
demands. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  1,127; 
Johnston's 
Orations,  II, 
123-160. 


ter  sovereignty  "  which  they  advocated.  The  gains  to  the 
South  were  (i)  the  confirmation  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia;  (2)  the  organization  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico 
as  territories  without  any  mention  of  slavery  —  leaving  that 
matter  to  be  settled  on  the  theory  of  squatter  sovereignty,  in 
accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  settlers  ;  (3)  the  payment 
of  a  large  sum  of  money  to  the  slave  state  of  Texas  to  secure 
a  relinquishment  of  her  claim  to  a  portion  of  New  Mexico ; 
(4)  a  resolution  by  Congress  to  the  effect  that  that  body 
had  no  power  over  the  interstate  slave  trade;  and  (5)  the 
passage  of  a  stringent  fugitive  slave  law.  Clay  realized  that 
this  so-called  compromise  was  distinctly  in  favor  of  the 
South ;  but  he  argued  that  the  dispute  as  to  slavery  was  a 
matter  of  sentiment  with  the  Northerners,  of  interest  with 
the  Southerners.  Sentiment  must  yield  to  interest.  Clay 
spoke  and  acted  for  conservative  Southern  slave  owners. 
He  thought  that  safety  lay  in  a  "  union  of  hearts  "  to  be 
brought  about  by  mutual  concessions  —  which  meant  North 
ern  concessions.  Probably  he  was  sincere  in  his  belief  as 
to  the  efficacy  of  his  compromise  scheme  to  prevent  dis 
union  and  secession. 

Calhoun  represented  Southern  extremists.  He  had  no 
faith  in  a  union  of  hearts,  or  any  union,  except  one  in  which 
the  South  should  forever  enjoy  equal  power  with  the  North, 
no  matter  what  the  relative  population  and  resources  of  the 
two  sections  might  be.  "Squatter  sovereignty"  had  no 
meaning  to  him,  and  he  regarded  the  action  of  the  Cali- 
fornians  as  a  piece  of  gross  impertinence ;  it  was  necessary 
for  the  North  to  concede  "  to  the  South  an  equal  right  in 
the  acquired  territory,  and  to  do  her  duty  by  causing  the 
stipulations 
relative  to  fugi- 
tive  slaves  to  be 

faithfully  fulfilled  ;  to  cease  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  ques 
tion  ;  and  to  provide  for  the  insertion  of  a  provision  in  the 
Constitution  by  an  amendment  which  will  restore  to  the 
South,  in  substance,  the  power  she  [once]  possessed  of  pro- 


1850]  Compromise  of  1850  435 

tecting  herself."  He  did  not  define  a  plan  to  bring  about 
this  political  equilibrium  between  the  two  classes  of  states. 
After  his  death,  it  appeared  that  what  he  had  in  mind  was 
the  repeal  of  all  laws  which  had  established  a  national  gov 
ernment,  and  the  adoption  of  an  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution  providing  for  the  election  of  two  presidents,  one  by 
the  slave,  the  other  by  the  free  states,  and  each  to  approve 
of  all  acts  of  Congress  before  they  became  laws.  Webster  Webster's 
expressed  the  views  of  many  Northern  conservatives.  He  Seventh 

of  March 

approved  the  compromise  plan  :  slavery  was  already  "  ex-    speech, 
eluded  from  the  territories  by  the  law  of  nature,  of  physical    Rhodes's 
geography."    Webster   spoke  on  March   7,    1850,   and  his    Umted 
speech   is  always   referred  to  as  the  "Seventh   of  March   Johnston's 
Speech."     These  opinions  were  those  of  the  leaders  who    Orations,  n, 
had  governed  the  country  since  the  War  of  1812  ;  they  all    * 
died  within  three  years.     New  men  were  coming  to  the  front, 
among  them  William  H.  Seward,  senator  from  New  York.   Seward's 
He  denounced  the  proposed  compromise  as  in  the  interests   ^ertlon- 
of  slavery  —  "  all  measures  which  fortify  slavery  or  extend  it,    united 
tend  to  the  consummation  of  violence,  —  all  that  check  its    states,  1,1.62. 
extension  and  abate  its  strength,  tend  to  its  peaceful  extir- 
pation."     Thrusting  aside  historical  subtleties  and  constitu-   VI,  40; 
tional  distinctions,  he  declared  that  "there  is  a  higher  law' 
than  the  Constitution,"  which  he  described  as  "  the  law  of 
nature  written  on  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  freemen." 

There  was  a  majority  in  both  houses  for  each  of  Clay's  The 
propositions  taken  by  itself;  but  the  voters  for  and  Compromise 
against  the  several  parts  of  the  scheme  were  different.  It 
resulted  from  this  that  the  propositions  in  bulk  failed  to  pass, 
and  also  when  grouped  together  in  three  bills.  Meantime, 
Taylor  had  been  managing  matters  in  his  own  straightfor 
ward  fashion.  Had  he  lived  a  few  months  longer,  California 
would  probably  have  been  admitted  without  any  compro 
mise.  Suddenly,  on  July  9,  1850,  he  died,  and  Fillmore, 
Seward's  political  rival  in  New  York,  became  President. 
Webster  became  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  compromise 
measures  were  passed,  though  not  in  their  original  form. 


436 


Slavery  in  the  Territories 


[§308 


Southern 

policy. 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  V, 

214. 


As  finally  effected,  the  Compromise  of  1850  provided  for 

(1)  the  admission  of  California  to  the  Union  as  a  free  state, 

(2)  the  prohibition  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  (3)  the  organization  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico 
as  territories  with  no  restriction  as  to  slavery,  (4)  the  pay 
ment  of  ten  million  dollars  to  Texas  in  satisfaction  of  her 
claims  to  a  portion  of  New  Mexico,  and  (5)  the  passage 
of  a  severe  fugitive  slave  law. 

308.  Fugitive  Slaves.  —  Whatever  good  results  might 
have  followed  from  the  Compromise  of  1850  without  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  were  more  than  offset  by  the  passage 
of  that  measure.  There  could  be  no  "union  of  hearts" 
in  face  of  it.  The  passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  was 
one  of  the  worst  blunders  in  the  long  series  of  errors 
which  led  to  the  perpetuation  of  slavery  in  the  South. 
Every  day  that  slavery  existed,  the  South  grew  weaker 
morally,  materially,  and  politically.  As  it  was,  Southern 
policy  clearly  demanded  that  the  slave  owners  should 
avoid  every  irritating  question  and  should  seek  to  discover 
the  best  means  by  which  slavery  could  be  checked  and 
brought  to  an  end.  In  place  of  so  doing,  they  seized  every 
occasion  to  push  the  further  extension  of  slavery  and  to 
fasten  the  institution  on  themselves  and  their  posterity ; 
they  lost  no  opportunity  to  bring  the  matter  prominently 
before  the  people  of  the  North,  and  compel  them  to  think 
about  it  whether  they  would  or  not.  The  execution  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  did  more  to  arouse  the  moral  sentiment 
of  the  Northerners  than  the  arguments  of  the  abolitionists 
had  done  in  twenty  years.  It  may  be  asserted  that  the 
people  of  the  free  states  —  whether  for  freedom  or  slavery 
in  the  South  or  in  the  territories  —  were  unanimous  for  free 
dom  on  their  own  soil.  Furthermore,  the  execution  of  the 
law  brought  the  people  of  the  North  face  to  face  with  cer 
tain  phases  of  slavery  in  whose  existence  most  of  them  had 
persistently  refused  to  believe.  Moreover,  there  seems  to 
have  been  no  adequate  reason  for  the  passage  of  the  law.  It 
has  been  stated  that  only  one  thirtieth  of  one  per  cent  of 


1850]  Fugitive  Slaves  437 

the  slaves  escaped  in  any  one  year.  Some  scheme  of  in 
surance  against  slave  escapes  would  have  fully  protected 
every  Southern  slave  owner  at  trifling  cost. 

The  act  itself  appears  to  have  been  drawn  with  the  ex-   The  Fugitive 
press  object  of  humbling  the  Northerners.     The  right  to  a  1^^' 
jury  trial  was  denied  to  the  person  designated  as  a  fugitive    united 
slave ;  the  affidavit  of  the  person  claiming  the  negro  was  states,  1, 185. 
sufficient  evidence  of  ownership ;  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus     ^"iTon 
was  denied  to  the  reclaimed  negro  ;  and  the  act  was  ex  post  repeal  of  this 
facto.     The  authors  of  the  bill  forgot,  however,  that  while  a  act  is  in  ( 
jury  trial  was  denied  to  the  negro  claimed  as  a  fugitive,    or^ns  n 
neither  it  nor  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  or  could  be  de-  268-340. 
nied  to  the  rescuer  of  the  negro  from  the  clutches  of  the 
fugitive  slave  hunter ;    nor  were  any  means   provided   by 
which  a  state  could   be  punished  for  placing  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  carrying  out  of  the  act. 

Agents  of  the  slave  owners  soon  appeared  in  the  Northern  Rescues  of 
states,  and  more  seizures  of  fugitives  occurred  in  one  year  fusitives. 
after  the  passage  of  the  act  than  in  all  the  sixty  years  before,  schouier's 
Except  in  a  few  cases,  it  was  found  to  be  impossible  to  secure    United 
and  retain  possession  of  the  runaways.      State  after  state   states> v> 
passed  "personal  liberty  laws"  which  practically  nullified   Rhodes's 
the  operation  of  the  act.      Some  of  these  laws  imposed    United 
heavy  fines  on  state  officers  who  in  any  way  assisted  the  ^3^222' 499, 
pursuers  of  fugitives ;  others  prohibited  lawyers  who  pros 
ecuted  in  these  cases  from  the  practice  of  their  profession ; 
and  still  others  forbade  the  confinement  of  fugitives  in  state 
prisons.     The  most  famous  cases  of  rescue  and  attempted 
rescue  were  those  of  Shadrach,  the  Christiana  riot  (1851), 
Burns  (1854),  the  Oberlin- Wellington  rescue  (1858),  and 
the  legal  struggle  which  occurred  in  Wisconsin  in  1858-59. 
Perhaps   the  most  dramatic   episode  was   the   attempt   of 
Thomas  Wentworth   Higginson   and  others  to  rescue  An 
thony  Burns ;  it  failed,  but  it  is  said  to  have  cost  the  gov 
ernment  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  return  this  one 
fugitive  to  his  master.     Another  result  was  a  great  increase 
in  the  facility  for  escape  offered  to  fugitives  in  the  Northern 


438 


Slavery  in  the  Territories 


[§309 


Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  I,  278. 


Election  of 

1852. 

Stanwood's 

Elections, 

178-191 ; 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  V, 

240-250. 


states.  This  was  popularly  known  as  the  "  underground  rail 
road,"  and  its  activity  and  efficacy  increased  enormously. 
Bearing  all  these  things  in  mind,  it  is  no  doubt  true,  as 
Senator  Benton  declared,  that  the  act  "  has  been  worth  but 
little  to  the  slave  states  in  recovering  their  property." 

309.  Election  of  1852.  —  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe's 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  was  published  in  the  summer  of  1852.  Its 

success  was  un 
precedented  in 
the  history  of 
American  litera 
ture,  and  the 
effect  produced 
by  its  publica 
tion  was  most 
important  and 
far-reaching.  It 
has  been  related 
that  just  after 
the  battle  of  Bull 
Run  Lincoln  met 
Mrs.  Stowe  for 
the  first  time  and 
greeted  her  as 
"the  little  woman 
who  caused  this 
great  war."  This  story  may  not  be  true,  but  it  is  certain 
that  Uncle  Tom  exercised  a  tremendous  influence  in  arousing 
public  opinion  in  the  North.  It  is  remarkable,  however, 
that  the  Democrats  were  successful  in  the  election  which 
followed  immediately  on  its  appearance. 

The  Democrats  nominated  a  comparatively  unknown  man, 
Franklin  Pierce  of  New  Hampshire ;  the  Whigs  chose  as 
their  standard  bearer  the  most  successful  soldier  in  the 
country,  Winfield  Scott.  The  Free-soilers  also  had  a  can 
didate  in  the  field,  but  their  strength  had  declined  since 
1848.  The  Democrats  were  now  united,  while  the  attempt 


Harriet  Beecher  Stowe 
From  a  contemporary  engraving 


1852] 


Election  of  1852 


439 


of  the  Whigs  to  avoid  expressing  an  opinion  on  the  slavery 
question  had  weakened  them  in  the  North  without  increasing 
their  strength  in  the  South.  The  Free-soilers,  by  attracting 
Whig  voters,  really  aided  the  Democrats.  Ridicule  was 
heaped  on  Scott,  who  was  a  man  of  showy  habits,  and 
not  always  happy  in  the  use  of  language.  The  real  reason 
for  the  Democratic  success,  however,  was  a  mistaken  feel- 


I  Whig, 
Scott. 


Election  of  1852 

ing  that  with  that  party  in  control  of  the  government,  less 
would  be  heard  of  the  contest  over  slavery. 

310.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  Act.  —  For  ten  years  since 
1844,  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas,  senator  from  Illinois,  had 
been  anxious  to  secure  a  territorial  organization  for  the 
region  west  of  Iowa  and  Missouri.  Unless  this  were  done, 
it  might  become  an  Indian  reservation,  which  he  undoubt 
edly  thought  would  be  a  sacrifice.  In  January,  1854,  Douglas 
introduced  a  bill  to  provide  for  the  organization,  as  the  terri 
tory  of  Nebraska,  of  all  the  Louisiana  Purchase  north  of  the 


The  Kansas- 
Nebraska 
Act,  1854. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  V, 
279-292 ; 
*Rhodes's 
United 
States,  1 ,  424  ; 
Johnston's 
Orations,  III, 
50-87. 


440 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


[§3i  i 


MacDonald's 
Documents, 
Nos.  85-88. 


Opposition 
to  the 
passage  of 
the  act. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  I,  441 ; 
Johnston's 
Orations, 
I",  3-49. 


line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  (36°  30'  north  latitude),  and 
west  of  the  states  of  Missouri  and  Iowa.  It  was  proposed 
that  this  territory  should  be  admitted  to  the  Union  at  some 
future  time  as  one  state  or  as  several  states,  "  with  or  without 
slavery  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time."  On 
being  reminded  that  this  region  had  been  devoted  to  freedom 
by  the  terms  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  Douglas  asserted 
that  that  compromise  had  been  superseded  and  repealed 
by  the  Compromise  of  1850.  He  maintained  that  he  now 
merely  proposed  to  extend  the  principle  of  "  popular  sov 
ereignty"  to  the  country  north  of  the  line  of  1820.  He 
was  driven  to  do  this  by  "  a  proper  sense  of  patriotic  duty." 
He  repeated  Webster's  argument  that  slavery  was  excluded 
by  nature  from  the  proposed  territory.  Before  its  passage, 
the  bill  was  changed  to  provide  for  the  organization  of  two 
territories  :  Kansas  and  Nebraska  in  place  of  one,  Nebraska,  — 
Kansas  to  include  the  region  between  37°  and  40°  north  lati 
tude,  and  Nebraska  that  between  40°  and  49°.  Kansas, 
as  thus  defined,  would  be  situated  directly  west  of  the  slave 
state  of  Missouri,  and  Nebraska  of  the  free  state  of  Iowa. 
Probably  this  division  was  made  in  the  expectation  that 
Kansas  would  become  a  slave  and  Nebraska  a  free  state. 
The  bill  as  finally  passed  also  declared  that  the  Missouri 
Compromise  had  been  suspended  and  made  inoperative 
by  the  principles  of  the  Compromise  of  1850. 

311.  Appeal  of  the  Independent  Democrats,  1854.— 
Douglas's  soothing  assurances  that  the  opening  of  these 
territories  to  slavery  was  a  matter  of  no  great  moment,  did 
not  commend  itself  to  the  antislavery  leaders  in  the  Senate. 
Senator  Chase  of  Ohio  asserted  that  the  proposed  measure 
was  "a  violation  of  the  plighted  faith  and  solemn  compact 
[the  Missouri  Compromise]  which  our  fathers  made,  and 
which  we,  their  sons,  are  bound  by  every  sacred  tie  of  obli 
gation  sacredly  to  maintain."  The  old  political  leaders  had 
now  passed  away ;  new  men  had  come  to  the  front :  Seward, 
Wade,  Hale,  but  none  more  outspoken  than  Charles  Sumner 
of  Massachusetts.  He  joyfully  welcomed  the  issue  raised 


1 854] 


The  Kansas-Nebraska  Act 


441 


by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill :  "  To  every  man  in  the  land, 
it  says  with  clear  penetrating  voice,  '  Are  you  for  freedom 
or  are  you  for  slavery  ? ' ' 

Some  of  the  leading  opponents  of  the  measure  summed 
up  their  objections  to  it  in  a  document  entitled,  Appeal 
of  the  Independent  Democrats.  They  arraigned  the  bill  "  as 
a  gross  violation  of  a  sacred  pledge  [the  Missouri  Compro 
mise]  ;  as  a  criminal  betrayal  of  precious  rights  ;  as  part  and 


El 


Territory  opened 
to  slavery. 


Kansas-Nebraska  Act,   1854 

parcel  of  an  atrocious  plot  to  exclude  from  a  vast  unoccupied 
region  immigrants  from  the  Old  World,  and  free  laborers 
from  our  own  states,  and  convert  it  into  a  dreary  region  of 
despotism,  inhabited  by  masters  and  slaves. 

"  Take  your  maps,  fellow-citizens,  we  entreat  you,  and  see 
what  country  it  is  which  this  bill  gratuitously  and  recklessly 
proposes  to  open  to  slavery."  As  to  the  statement  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  had  been  made  inoperative  by  the 
Compromise  of  1850,  the  "Independent  Democrats"  de- 


"  Appeal 
of  the 

Independent 
Democrats." 
American 
History 
Leaflets, 
No.  17. 


442 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


Popular 
sovereignty. 


Wishes  of 
the  slave 
owners. 


Abraham 

Lincoln. 

Morse's 

Lincoln, 

(S.S.). 


clared  in  a  postscript  to  the  "  Appeal  "  that  such  a  statement 
was  "  a  manifest  falsification  of  the  truth  of  history." 

312.  Popular  Sovereignty.  —  "Popular  sovereignty,"  or 
"squatter  sovereignty,"  is  thus  defined  in  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Act :  "  The  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  [is] 
not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  territory  or  state,  nor  to  ex 
clude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their 
own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States."  Apart  from  the  question  of  the  violation  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  the  Kansas- Nebraska  Act  was  fatally 
incomplete  in  providing  no  efficient  means  for  the  peaceful 
occupation  of  the  territories  by  free  immigrants,  or  by  slave 
owners  with  their  slaves.  On  the  face  of  it,  all  that  the  slave 
owners  asked  was  to  be  allowed  to  carry  their  slaves  with 
them ;  "  in  reality,"  as  Senator  Benton  said,  what  the  slave 
holder  wanted  was  "  to  carry  the  state  law  along  with  him  to 
protect  his  slave,"  or  rather  his  interest  in  his  slave.  It  was 
necessary,  therefore,  the  moment  a  slave  entered  a  territory 
to  enact  a  complete  code  of  slave  laws  to  keep  him  in  bond 
age.  It  was  impossible  to  permit  slave  owners  and  free 
immigrants  to  live  together  under  a  territorial  organization, 
and  settle  the  question  when  the  time  came  to  seek  admission 
into  the  Union. 

Douglas's  ablest  opponent  in  Illinois  was  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  who  had  already  served  one  term  in  Congress,  but  had 
not  been  re-elected.  While  in  Congress,  he  had  made  one 
speech  which  is  interesting  to  note  in  view  of  his  later  career. 
It  was  in  1847  that  Lincoln  declared  :  "  Any  people  anywhere 
have  the  right  to  rise  up  and  shake  off  the  existing  govern 
ment,  and  form  a  new  one  that  suits  them  better.  .  .  .  Nor 
is  this  right  confined  to  cases  in  which  the  whole  people  .  .  . 
may  choose  to  exercise  it.  Any  portion  of  such  people,  that 
can,  may  revolutionize,  and  make  their  own  of  so  much  of 
the  territory  as  they  inhabit."  This  would  appear  to  be  a 
recognition  of  the  doctrine  of  "  popular  sovereignty  "  in  its 
most  extended  application.  But  Lincoln  now  opposed  most 


1854]  Popular  Sovereignty  443 

warmly  the  application  of  it  made  in  the  Kansas- Nebraska 
Act :  "  I  admit  that  the  emigrant  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
is  competent  to  govern  himself,  but  I  deny  his  right  to 
govern  any  other  person  without  that  person's  consent." 
The  act  was  especially  defective  in  that  it  contained  no 
means  of  ascertaining  the  "  popular  sovereign's "  will. 
Bloodshed  was  inevitable  ;  "  will  not  the  first  drop  of  blood 
so  shed  be  the  real  knell  of  the  Union?  " 

313.  Struggle  for  Kansas,  1855-61. — The  slave  owners  Kansas, 
and  their  friends  at  once  prepared  to  take  possession  of  Schouier's 
Kansas,  which  they  appear  to  have  regarded  as  rightfully  states  V 
belonging  to  them.  Bands  of  "  Sons  of  the  South,"  as  they  320-333.' 
called  themselves,  or  "Border  Ruffians,"  as  the  free-state 
settlers  soon  came  to  regard  them,  now  crossed  the  frontier 
of  Missouri  to  seize  the  government  of  the  new  territory,  and 
to  occupy  the  best  lands  until  actual  settlers  should  appear 
from  the  South.  The  Southern  settlers  never  came  in  any 
force.  The  slave  owners  were  well  to  do  and  possessed 
freedom  of  movement  to  a  certain  extent.  It  was  easy  for 
one  of  them  to  take  a  number  of  slaves,  migrate  to  a  neigh 
boring  slave  state,  and  establish  a  new  plantation  like  the  one 
which  he  had  left  behind  him.  When  it  came,  however,  to 
making  a  long  journey  to  an  unknown  region  whose  climate 
might  prove  injurious  or  fatal  to  his  blacks,  and  to  engage 
in  new  forms  of  agriculture,  —  to  which  he  and  his  slaves 
were  unaccustomed,  —  that  project  was  one  not  to  be  lightly 
undertaken.  It  proved,  indeed,  nearly  impossible  to  induce 
the  slave  owners  to  remove.  It  was  of  little  avail  to  encour 
age  the  emigration  of  Southern  whites,  unless  a  considerable 
body  of  slaveholders  and  slaves  accompanied  them  ;  the 
story  of  California  had  shown  that  Southern  whites,  mingled 
with  a  mass  of  Northern  whites,  would  unhesitatingly  vote  to 
exclude  slavery  from  their  new  home. 

Settlers  from  the  free  states  were  confronted  by  none  of  Free  emigra- 
the  impediments  which  beset  the  slaveholders,  but  difficulties   tion  to 
caused  by  distance,  expense,  and  opposition  of  the  "  Border 
Ruffians  "  were  to  be  overcome.     The  hindrances  of  distance 


444 


Slavery  in  the  Territories 


Election  in 

Kansas, 

1855- 


and  expense  were  surmounted  by  rich  New  Englanders,  — 
as  Amos  A.  Lawrence,  —  who  formed  the  New  England  Emi 
grant  Aid  Society.  Northern  settlers  soon  thronged  to 
Kansas ;  but  the  opposition  of  the  Sons  of  the  South  re 
mained  to  be  vanquished. 

The  first  territorial  election  was  held  in  1855,  and  the 
Sons  of  the  South  carried  the  elections  for  the  proslavery 
party  by  the  use  of  fraud  and  violence.  In  the  town  of 
Lawrence,  for  example,  seven  hundred  and  eighty-one  votes 
were  cast,  although  there  were  only  three  hundred  and 
sixty  registered  voters  on  the  list.  The  legislature,  elected 
in  this  manner,  was  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  pro- 
slavery  men.  It  adopted  the  laws  of  Missouri  in  bulk  — 
slave  code  and  all  —  as  the  laws  of  the  new  territory ;  it 
went  even  further,  and  passed  severe  laws  to  punish  inter 
ference  with  slaves.  The  free-state  settlers  then  proceeded 
The  Topeka  to  establish  a  government  of  their  own ;  they  held  a  con- 
Convention,  vention  at  Topeka,  drew  up  a  constitution,  and  applied  to 
Congress  for  admission  to  the  Union  as  a  free  state  (1855). 
A  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  visited  Kan 
sas.  It  reported  that  the  elections  to  the  legislature  had 
been  carried  by  "organized  invasion."  The  House  then 
voted  to  admit  Kansas  as  a  free  state  under  the  Topeka 
constitution,  but  the  Senate  refused  to  agree  to  this,  and  put 
an  end  to  all  hopes  of  a  peaceable  solution  of  the  question. 
The  conflict  in  Kansas  now  assumed  the  form  of  open 
war.  Slave  partisans  attacked  Lawrence,  and  burned  sev 
eral  buildings.  The  free-state  settlers  retaliated;  one  of 
the  latter  encounters  was  the  massacre  of  several  Sons  of 
the  South,  at  Pottawatomie,  by  a  band  led  by  John  Brown. 

It    is    difficult    to    say   which 
party  behaved  with  the   most 

intemperance  and  disregard  of  the  rights  of  others.  At  all 
events,  it  was  certain  that  this  application  of  the  doctrine 
of  "  popular  sovereignty  "  had  resulted  in  civil  war. 

In  1857  the  free-state  settlers  obtained   control  of  the 
legislature ;    but   one    of  the    last   acts   of  the    fraudulent 


1855- 


Civil  war  in 
Kansas. 


i856] 


The  Struggle  for  Kansas 


445 


legislature  had  been  to  provide  for  a  constitutional  con 
vention  to  be  held  at  Lecompton.  About  one  third  of  the 
ballots  cast  for  delegates  to  this  convention  were  fraudulent. 
When  the  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people  for  rati 
fication,  the  question  upon  which  they  were  really  asked  to 
vote  was  whether  Kansas  should  be  a  state  with  limited  or 
unlimited  slavery.  This  method  of  defeating  the  will  of  the 
"  popular  sovereign  "  was  more  than  Douglas  could  bear ; 
he  broke  with  the  administration.  An  effort  was  made  to 
effect  a  compromise ;  but,  on  a  fair  election,  the  people  of 
Kansas  refused  to  compromise  by  a  vote  of  nearly  eleven 
thousand  to  over  two  thousand.  It  was  not  until  1861  that 
Kansas  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

Before  1845,  foreign  immigration  to  the  United  States 
had  been  on  a  scale  so  small  as  to  attract  slight  atten 
tion,  practically  none  from  the  politicians.  Some  jealousy 
of  foreign  immigrants  had  been  shown  in  1844,  but  it 
was  not  until  1852  that  opposition  to  the  "foreign  ele 
ment  "  became  the  basis  of  a  political  organization  extend 
ing  over  many  states.  Then  was  formed  the  American 
party,  whose  idea  was  that  "Americans  must  rule  America." 
At  the  back  of  this  organization  was  a  secret  order  whose 
members,  when  questioned  by  outsiders  as  to  their  prin 
ciples  and  methods,  professed  an  entire  ignorance ;  they 
were  hence  called  "The  Know-nothings,"  and  the  Ameri 
can  party  was  more  usually  called  the  Know-nothing  party. 
In  1854,  not  long  after  the  passage  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Act,  an  election  was  held  for  members  of  Con 
gress.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  which  had  passed 
that  measure,  the  Democrats  had  a  majority  of  over  eighty. 
Of  the  forty-two  Northern  Democrats  who  had  voted  for 
the  bill,  only  seven  were  re-elected.  The  Anti-Nebraska 
men,  as  the  opponents  of  that  measure  were  called,  left  the 
Democratic  and  Whig  parties  and  joined  the  Free-soilers 
and  the  Know-nothings  —  the  Whigs  generally  joining  the 
latter,  who  showed  unexpected  strength  in  1854,  and  espe 
cially  in  the  state  elections  in  1855.  The  new  Congress 


Lecompton 
Constitution. 


The  Know- 
nothings. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  II,  50. 


Anti- 
Nebraska 
men. 


Sumner  and  Longfellow 
From  a  contemporary  print 

446 


i856] 


Election  of  1856 


447 


which  met  in  1855  contained  representatives  of  all  three 
parties  and  fragments  of  parties.  Gradually,  as  the  contest 
in  Kansas  grew  fiercer,  the  Anti-Nebraska  men  began  to 
draw  together,  and,  going  back  to  the  party  organization  of 
the  earlier  time,  began  to  call  themselves  Republicans. 

Four  conventions  were  held  in  18^6  to  nominate  candi-     arty 

conventions, 

dates  for  the  presidency.     The    Know-nothings,  who   now   1856. 


i  Democrat,     K^Whig,               |1  Republican,, 
Buchanan.    t^^JFillmore.       I    I  Fremont, 


Election  of  1856 

advocated  a  policy  of  "  do  nothing  "  on  the  slavery  question, 
nominated  Millard  Fillmore  of  New  York,  who,  as  President, 
had  signed  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  the  Whigs  nomi 
nated  him  also.  The  Republicans,  now  including  in  their 
ranks  the  old  Free-soilers,  the  Northern  Anti-Nebraska 
Democrats  and  Whigs,  and  such  of  the  abolitionists  as  were 
willing  to  exercise  their  political  rights,  nominated  John  C. 
Fremont,  an  army  officer  who  had  been  active  in  the 
seizure  of  California.  The  Democrats  nominated  James 
Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania  for  President  and  John  C.  Breck- 


448 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


Election  of 

1856. 

Stanwood's 

Elections, 

192-213 ; 

Schouler's 

United 

States,  V, 

349-356. 


The  Dred 
Scott  case, 
1857- 

Schouler's 
United 
States,  V, 
376; 

*Rhodes's 
United 
States,  II, 

251; 

Johnston's 
Orations, III, 

154-167; 
MacDonald's 
Documents, 
No.  91. 


inridge  of  Kentucky  for  Vice-President :  they  elected  their 
candidate,  but  the  Republicans  showed  most  unexpected 
and  startling  strength:  in  1852  the  Democrats  had  carried 
every  state,  North  and  South,  save  four;  in  1856  they 
were  successful  in  only  four  Northern  states.  The  Re 
publicans  won  Delaware  and  every  Northern  state  except 
the  four  which  remained  faithful  to  the  Democrats.  The 
Free-soilers  had  cast  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand 
votes  in  1852  ;  the  Republicans  cast  one  million  three  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  votes  in  1856,  only  five  hundred 
thousand  less  than  the  Democrats.  The  Whig  party  and 
the  Know-nothings  disappeared ;  the  Republicans  had  no 
following  in  the  South;  and  the  Democratic  party  re 
mained  the  only  political  organization  which  in  any  way 
united  the  free  North  and  the  slaveholding  South.  After 
1857,  the  slaveholders  made  such  excessive  demands  that 
even  the  Northern  Democrats  could  no  longer  accept  them  ; 
the  party  split  in  twain,  and  the  division  of  the  country  into 
two  sections  was  complete.  One  of  the  most  important 
steps  in  this  repulsion  of  Northern  party  loyalty  was  the 
action  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case. 

314.  The  Dred  Scott  Decision,  1857.  —  Dred  Scott,  as  a 
slave,  had  been  taken  by  his  master  to  the  free  state  of  Illi 
nois  and  to  that  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  where  slavery 
had  been  "  forever  forbidden  "  by  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
Returning  with  his  master  to  Missouri,  he  sued  for  his 
liberty  on  the  ground  that  residence  in  the  free  North  had 
made  him  free.  The  case  finally  came  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  The  technical  question  before 
that  tribunal  was  whether  the  federal  courts  had  jurisdiction 
in  the  matter.  The  court,  Justices  McLean  and  Curtis  dis 
senting,  decided  that  they  had  no  jurisdiction.  This  decision 
was  based  on  the  ground  that  neither  a  slave  nor  the  de 
scendant  of  a  slave  could  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  and  hence  enjoy  the 
right  to  appear  as  a  party  to  a  suit  in  a  federal  court.  The 
Chief  Justice,  Roger  B.  Taney,  then  proceeded  to  outstep  the 


l857]  The  Dred  Scott  Decision  449 

proper  function  of  the  court  and  to  settle  the  question  of 
slavery  in  the  territories  —  which  was  not  before  it  at  all. 
He  said  that  slaves  were  property  within  the  meaning  of  the 
Constitution ;  that  property  was  guaranteed  protection  by 
the  Constitution ;  that  Congress  could  not  legislate  against 
property,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Missouri  Compromise  was 
null  and  void,  inasmuch  as  it  prohibited  the  carrying  of 
property  into  a  certain  part  of  the  Union.  Into  the  legal 
aspects  of  the  case  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter  here.  The 
people  of  the  North  understood  the  court  to  say  that  under 
no  circumstances  whatever  could  Congress  effect  a  lawful 
compromise  on  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  territories ; 
they  generally  refused  to  regard  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme 
Court  as  expressing  the  true  interpretation  of  the  Constitu 
tion  ;  it  remained  to  be  seen  what  attitude  the  Northern 
Democratic  leaders  would  take. 

315.   Lincoln    and    Douglas,    1858.  —  In   1858    Senator  Lincoln  and 
Douglas  sought  a  re-election  to  the  Senate  of  the  United   Douglas, 
States;  Abraham   Lincoln  stepped  forward  to  contest  the   schouler's 
seat,  and  the  campaign  which  followed  was  one  of  the  most    United 
important  in  the  history  of  the  United  States.     In  his  first   Sfates'  v« 
address,  Lincoln  startled  his  hearers  and  dismayed  his  party 
leaders  by  the  outspoken  frankness  of  his  language  :  "  Agi-   Lincoln's 
tation   [against  slavery]   has  not  only  not  ceased   but  has   "houseM 
constantly  augmented.     In  my  opinion  it  will  not  cease  until   s^e^  l8-8 
a   crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and   passed.     'A  house   Rhodes's 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'     I  believe  this  govern-    Un'ted 
ment  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.   3I4> 
I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  expect  it  will  cease  Johnston's 
to  be  divided.     It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other.    {^68-187 
Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread 
of  it  ...  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward,  till  it  shall 
become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  states,  old  as  well  as  new,  — 
North  as  well  as  South."     Lincoln  and  Douglas  held  a  series 
of  joint  debates,  in  the  course  of  which  Lincoln  compelled 
Douglas  to  defend  the  doctrine  of  "  popular  sovereignty," 
and  to  assert  that  a  territorial  legislature  could  enact  laws 


450 


Slavery  in  the   Territories 


Douglas's 
"  Freeport 
Doctrine." 
Johnston's 
Orations, 
III,  184-194. 


Seward's 
"  irrepres 
sible  con 
flict  "  speech, 
1858. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  II, 
3441  Sted- 
man  and 
Hutchinson, 
VI,  46 -John 
ston's  Ora 
tions,  195- 
207. 


John 
Brown's 
raid,  1859. 
Schouler's 
United 
States,  V, 

437-441 '. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  II, 
383. 


hostile  to  slavery  and  thus  completely  nullify  the  Dred  Scott 
decision.  The  Democrats  won  the  state  election  and  the 
state  legislature  returned  Douglas  to  the  Senate ;  but  the 
admissions  that  Lincoln  had  wrung  from  Douglas  made 
the  latter's  candidature  for  the  presidency  distasteful  to  the 
slaveholders,  while  Lincoln  by  his  plain  speaking  had  at  one 
stroke  won  a  foremost  place  in  the  Republican  party.  His 
"  house  divided  "  speech,  which  had  dismayed  his  friends  at 
the  time,  proved  to  have  been  one  of  the  wisest  actions  of 
one  of  the  wisest  of  men. 

In  the  same  year  Seward  made  a  speech  which  probably 
had  more  influence  in  forming  Northern  opinion  than  any 
other  speech  made  before  the  war.  He  said,  in  speaking 
of  the  struggle  between  slavery  and  freedom,  "  it  is  an  irre 
pressible  conflict  between  opposing  and  enduring  forces, 
and  it  means  that  the  United  States  must  and  will,  sooner 
or  later,  become  either  entirely  a  slaveholding  nation  or 
entirely  a  free-labor  nation."  The  slaveholders  were  de 
termined  that  it  should  become  the  former.  They  demanded 
that  the  opinion  of  the  judges  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
should  be  respected  and,  going  even  farther,  peremptorily 
required  that  Congress  should  pass  laws  for  the  protection 
of  slaves  as  property  in  their  territories.  While  matters 
were  in  this  state  of  great  tension,  John  Brown  appeared 
at  Harper's  Ferry  to  attempt  the  freedom  of  slaves. 

316.  John  Brown's  Execution,  1859.  —  Born  in  Connecti 
cut,  John  Brown  had  emigrated  to  Kansas  at  the  beginning 
of  the  conflict  between  the  forces  of  freedom  and  slavery  in 
that  territory.  Self-willed  and  quick  to  resent  wrong,  he  had 
engaged  in  several  affairs  in  Kansas  which  met  with  strong 
disapprobation  on  the  part  of  those  foremost  in  the  struggle 
against  the  extension  of  slavery.  He  now  formed  a  scheme 
to  free  the  slaves  in  the  South.  He  asserted  that  "  twenty 
men  in  the  Alleghanies  could  break  slavery  in  pieces  in  two 
years  "  —  precisely  how  is  not  clear.  It  is  clear,  however,  that 
it  was  his  intention  to  free  the  slaves,  not  to  excite  a  slave 
insurrection  —  although  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the 


l859l  John  Browns  Execution  451 

former  could  be  accomplished  without  bringing  on  the  latter ; 
it  is  also  clear  that  his  project  met  with  strong  disapproval 
from  many  persons  to  whom  he  applied  for  money.  On  the 
i6th  of  October,  1859,  he  suddenly  appeared  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  Virginia,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Potomac  and  Shen- 


John  Brown 

andoah   rivers,  with   nineteen    followers.       He   seized   the 
United  States  arsenal  at  that  place,  but  allowed  a  train  to 
pass  on  its  way  to  Washington.     He  was  captured  with  all   His  execu- 
but  two  of  his  followers,  indicted,  tried,  convicted,  and  exe-   tjon- 
cuted  on  a  charge  of  treason  and  conspiracy  with  slaves  and   Hutchinson 
others  to  rebel  and  murder.     It  is  interesting  to  note  how  VI,  34. 
differently  Brown's  raid  and  execution  appeared  to  different 


452 


Slavery  in  the  Territories 


[§3i7 


Contem 
porary 
opinion. 


Helper's 
Impending 
Crisis. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  II, 
419;  Sted- 
man  and 
Hutchinson, 
VIII,  41 1. 


persons.  For  example,  Emerson  wished  that  we  might 
"  have  health  enough  .  .  .  not  to  cry  '  madman '  when  a 
hero  passes,"  and  Longfellow  wrote  in  his  journal,  "  This  will 
be  a  great  day  in  our  history ;  the  date  of  a  new  revolution 
quite  as  much  needed  as  the  old  one."  To  the  politicians 
it  assumed  quite  another  phase,  and  the  Republican  conven 
tion  held  in  May,  1860,  denounced  it  as  "  among  the  gravest 
of  crimes."  In  1881  Edward  Atkinson  stated  to  a  Southern 
audience  that  he  expected  to  see  the  day  when  Confederate 
soldiers  or  their  children  will  erect  a  monument  to  John 
Brown  "  in  token  of  the  liberty  which  he  brought  to  the 
white  men  of  the  South."  There  were  not  wanting  Southern 
men,  even  at  that  time,  who  could  discern  the  evils  slavery 
had  wrought  for  them. 

317.  Helper's  impending  Crisis,  1857.  —  One  of  these 
keen-sighted  men  was  Hinton  Rowan  Helper,  a  "  poor 
white  "  of  North  Carolina.  In  a  book  entitled  The  Impend 
ing  Crisis  of  the  South  he  attacked  slavery  in  the  interests 
of  the  non-slaveholding  Southern  whites.  Abolition,  he 
argued,  would  improve  the  material  position  of  the  South. 
He  drew  an  interesting  picture  of  the  rise  of  thriving  manu 
facturing  villages  in  that  section,  where  the  farmers  would 
find  a  market  for  their  produce  ;  schools  also  would  be 
established,  and  the  poorer  children  educated  as  they  were 
in  the  North.  As  it  was,  the  case  of  the  South  was  desperate, 
and  nothing  except  abolition  could  save  her.  The  book  at 
tracted  little  attention  at  first,  but  in  1859  it  suddenly 
increased  in  circulation.  Nothing,  not  even  John  Brown's 
raid,  did  more  to  arouse  the  fears  of  the  slaveholding  oli 
garchy.  Seven  out  of  every  ten  voters  in  the  South  were 
non-slaveholding  whites.  Had  they  been  able  to  read  and 
understand  the  arguments  set  forth  in  this  book,  slavery 
would  have  been  doomed  to  destruction.  When  a  Southern 
white  could  assume  such  a  position,  it  behooved  the  leaders 
of  the  slave  power  to  take  immediate  action. 


Questions  and  Topics  453 

SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 

§§  298-301.   TEXAS,  MEXICO,  AND  OREGON 

a.  Show  how  the  Southern  voters  enjoyed  undue  power. 

b.  Had  you  been  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slave  territory,  how 
would  you  have  voted  in  1844  ?     Give  your  reasons. 

c.  What   did  the   word  "Oregon"  signify  in   1845,    l&47>   J86o? 
Which  country,  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain,  had  the  best  claim 
to  Oregon  in  1846  ?     Why  ? 

§  302.  THE  WALKER  TARIFF 

a.  Look  up  the  Walker  Tariff  (Lalor's  Cydop(zdia)>  and  compare  it 
with  the  present  tariff,  especially  as  to  taxes  on  raw  materials,  on  textiles, 
and  on  luxuries. 

b.  To  what  causes  do  you  attribute  the  prosperity  of  the  country  in 
the  years  1846-57?     Give  your  reasons  in  full. 

c.  Show  how  farming  on  a  large  scale  was  immeasurably  promoted 
by  the  invention  of  the  McCormick  reaper. 

§§  3°3-3°8.    THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850 

a.  Was  compromise  any  more  necessary  in  1850  than  at  the  time  of 
the  Whiskey  Rebellion  or  of  the  Nullification  Episode? 

b.  Precisely  what  would  have  been  the  effect  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso 
had  it  been  passed? 

c.  How  would  you  have  voted  in  1848,  and  why?     If  you  had  been  . 
a  New  York  Democrat,  how  would  you  have  voted? 

d.  State  at  length  Taylor's  and  Clay's  policy  as  to  slavery  extension 
in  1849-50. 

e.  Read  Webster's  "Seventh  of  March  Speech,"  and  explain  why 
it  aroused  feeling  against  him  in  the  North. 

§  308.     FUGITIVE  SLAVES 

a.  Explain  fully  why  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  a  blunder  on  the 
part  of  the  Southerners. 

b.  Look  up  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  or  get  some  lawyer  to  explain 
it  to  you.      Quote  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  touching  it.      Why 
could  it  be  denied  to  the  fugitive  slave  and  not  to  the  rescuer? 

§§  309-314-     ELECTIONS  OF  1852  AND  1856 

a.    Read  Mrs.  Stowe's  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  and  explain  why  it  was  a 
potent  factor  in  causing  the  Civil  War. 


454  Slavery  in  the   Territories 

b.  Trace  the  genesis  of  the  Republican  party  from  the  parties  of 
Jackson's  time.     Is  the  present  Democratic  party  any  more  the  descend 
ant  of  Jefferson's  Republican  party  than  is  the  present   Republican 
party  ?     Give  your  reasons. 

c.  For  what  candidate  would  you  have  voted  in  1852  ?     In  1856  ? 
Give  your  reasons. 

§§  3IO~3i6.  THE  CONTEST  OVER  KANSAS 

a.  Why  was  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  the  most  momentous  measure 
that  ever  passed  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  ? 

b.  Read  a  detailed  account  of  the  conflict  in  Kansas,  and  state  which 
party  acted  in  the  more  unlawful  manner.     Give  your  reasons. 

c.  Squatter  or  Popular  Sovereignty :  define.     Explain  the  force  of 
Senator  Benton's  assertion  in  §  312. 

d.  Discuss  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  as  to  constitutionality,  expedi 
ency,  immediate  and  remote  effects  on  the  North,  on  the  South,  on  the 
Union. 

e.  State  the  principal  points  of  the   Dred   Scott  opinion.     State 
Douglas's  "  Freeport  Doctrine."     Can  you  reconcile  them  ? 

/   Why  did  Lincoln  believe  that  the  Union  could  not  endure  "  half 
slave  and  half  free  "  ?     WThy  was  the  conflict  "  irrepressible  "  ? 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Make  continuous  recitations  from  note-book  upon   (i)  Limited 
Power  of  Congress,  (2)  Fugitive  Slave  Laws,  (3)  Nullifying  Ordinances, 
(4)  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,   (5)  Important  Treaties,   (6)  Secession. 

b.  Subjects  for  reports  based   on  secondary  authorities:    (i)  the 
careers,  or  portions  of  them,  of  Generals  Scott  and  Taylor,  Senators 
Seward,  Chase,  Sumner,  and  Douglas,  Mrs.  Stowe  ;    (2)  the  Fugitive 
Slave    cases,   or   one   of  them;    (3)   the  Federal  judiciary,   1829-61; 
(4)  the  weak  Presidents  and  results  of  their  weakness. 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 

a.  Tabulate    the  electoral  votes   of    1844,    1848,    1852,  and    1856. 
Arrange  the  table  to  show  votes  by  sections  ;   the  North,  the  South,  the 
East,  the  Northwest  (Stanwood's  Elections  as  cited  on  pp.  420,  430, 
438,  448). 

b.  Summarize  the  argument  of  (i)  Clay,  (2)  Calhoun,  (3)  Webster, 
(4)   Seward,    (5)   Chase,    (6)   Douglas,  and    (7)   Lincoln   (Johnston's 
Orations  as  cited  on  pp.  434,  435,  437>  44°,  441?  448,  449,  45°)- 

c.  Summarize  the  arguments  of  the  "  Independent  Democrats  "  (441, 
second  group). 


CHAPTER    XII 

SECESSION,  1860-1861 

Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Johnston's  American  Politics,  189-196;  Wil 
son's  Division  and  Reunion,  204-216;  Morse's  Abraham  Lincoln; 
Gold  win  Smith's  United  States. 

Special  Accounts.  —  *Rhodes's  United  States,  III,  ch.  xii  (condition 
of  the  country  in  1860);  Greeley's  American  Conflict;  *Von  Hoist's 
Constitutional  History;  Schouler's  United  States;  *Draper's  Civil 
War ;  Ropes's  Story  of  the  Civil  War,  I;  *Stephens's  War  between 
the  States ;  Elaine's  Twenty  Years;  *Pollard's  Lost  Cause ;  *Taussig's 
Tariff  History.  Lives  of  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §  25. 

Sources.  —  American  History  Leaflets;  Williams's  Statesman's 
Manual;  Johnston's  American  Orations;  McPherson's  History  of 
the  Rebellion;  Stedman  and  Hutchinson's  Library  of  American  Liter 
ature.  Writings  of  the  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §§  32,  33. 

Maps.  —  Hart's  Epoch  Maps,  Nos.  8,  13. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56  a,  56  b  (General  Readings),  §§  203-207  (Topics  and  Refer 
ences). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  *Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln; 
*Buchanan's  Buchanati's  Administration ;  Garrisons'  Garrison;  Dab- 
ney's  Defence  of  Virginia;  Sherman's  Memoirs;  Olmsted's  Cotton 
Kingdom;  A.  L.  Lowell's  Political  Essays  ;  Wise's  Seven  Decades ;  Cole- 
man's  Crittenden;  Bett's  Joseph  Henry  (M.  A.);  Holmes's  Emerson  ; 
Helper's  Impending  Crisis  ;  *Davis's  Confederate  States. 

Gayarre's  "Sugar  Plantation"  {Harper's  Magazine,  May,  1887); 
Smede's  Memorials  of  a  Southern  Planter;  Page's  The  Old  South; 
Trent's  W.  G.  Simms. 

SECESSION,  1860-1861 

318.    Introductory. — The   year   1860   saw  the  breaking   Southern 
down  of  the  policy  of  compromise  which  had  distinguished   P°]icy.  1860. 
the  political  history  of  the  country  since  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.     This  change  was  brought  about  by  a 

455 


456 


recession 


complete  alteration  in  the  political  attitude  of  the  leaders 
who  guided  the  fortunes  of  the  South.  In  their  opinion,  the 
time  had  come  to  push  their  demands- — or  their  rights,  as 
they  regarded  them.  It  would  no  longer  do  for  the  Union 
merely  to  tolerate  slavery  :  the  federal  government  must 
actively  undertake  the  extension  and  protection  of  it ;  the 
Northerners  must  change  their  sentiments  and  declare  it  to 
be  right.  Failing  this  complete  surrender  on  the  part  of  the 
North,  the  Southern  leaders  were  determined  to  break  up. 
the  Union  and  to  establish  a  slave  republic  in  the  South. 
Probably  they  expected  little  resistance  from  the  people  of 
the  North ;  they  certainly  had  no  fears  as  to  the  outcome 
of  civil  war,  should  it  take  place.  They  were  laboring  under 
some  of  the  most  curious  delusions  which  the  student  of 
history  meets  in  the  whole  course  of  his  work.  To  com 
prehend  the  history  of  the  next  six  years,  it  is  necessary  to 
understand  the  material  conditions  of  the  country  as  a  whole, 
and  those  of  the  two  sections  respectively. 

319.  Population,  1860.  —  The  population  had  increased 
from  slightly  under  thirteen  millions  in  1830  to  over  thirty- 
one  millions  in  1860.  The  increase  had  been  especially 
rapid  since  1850,  when  the  population  numbered  twenty- 
three  millions.  A  large  part  of  this  growth  was  due  directly 
to  immigration,  which  had  gathered  in  volume  every  decade. 
The  total  immigration  of  these  thirty  years  amounted  to 
nearly  five  millions  (4,902,000).  Of  these  newcomers  about 
six  hundred  thousand  came  in  the  ten  years  1831-40,  more 
than  seventeen  hundred  thousand  in  1841-50,  and  over  two 
and  one  half  millions  in  1851-60;  the  largest  number  in 
any  one  year  before  the  Civil  War  was  four  hundred  and 
immigration,  twenty-eight  thousand  in  1854.  This  ever- widening  stream 
1830-60.  of  immigration  was  owing  largely  to  causes  over  which  the 
United  States  had  no  control. 

The  period  extending  from  1830  to  1860  was  a  time  of 
unparalleled  distress  and  disorder  in  Europe  :  on  the  con 
tinent  revolution  succeeded  revolution,  while  a  terrible 
famine  swept  off  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  Ireland 


Numbers, 
1860. 


1860]  Population  457 

and  made  it  difficult  for  the  survivors  longer  to  live  in  the 
old  home  of  their  race.  From  all  parts  of  northern  and 
western  Europe  immigrants  poured  into  the  United  States. 
Great  material  prosperity  and  unusual  personal  liberty  drew 
them  to  the  states  of  the  federal  union  in  preference  to 
Canada  or  Mexico  or  to  the  Australian  or  African  colonies 
of  England.  These  immigrants  brought  little  with  them ; 
unskilled  labor  was  their  stock  in  trade ;  but  this  was  what  ' 
America  needed.  These  strong  men  built  the.  cities  and 
railroads  of  the  North,  and  added  thousands  of  acres  to 
the  fields  of  corn  and  wheat  in  the  West.  Politically,  their 
coming  was  of  the  greatest  importance  :  in  the  crowded  cities 
they  often  interfered  sadly  with  the  cause  of  good  government, 
mainly  through  ignorance  ;  but  as  far  as  national  politics  was 
concerned,  their  presence  was  a  positive  good.  For  years 
the  United  States  —  the  great  republic  beyond  the  sea  — 
had  been  to  them  as  a  star  of  hope  in  the  western  sky  :  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  states,  individually,  and  for  them  states' 
rights  had  no  charm ;  the  United  States  was  their  adopted 
home,  and  when  the  time  came  to  show  their  devotion,  they 
responded  most  heroically.  Nor  was  this  matter  one  of  small 
moment :  in  1860  the  foreign-born  residents  formed  over 
thirteen  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  country. 
Unskilled  white  labor  played  little  part  in  the  development 
of  the  South  ;  the  immigrants  settled  almost  entirely  in  the 
North,  and  formed  nearly  one  quarter  of  the  population  of 
that  section.  In  many  parts  of  the  West  they  were  the 
majority  of  the  inhabitants. 

320.    Distribution  of  the  Population,  Area,  etc.  —  Since  Analysis  of 
1830,  one  million  square  miles  had  been  added  to  the  na-  population, 
tional  domain.     This  addition  included  Texas,  Oregon,  and 
the  territory  acquired  from  Mexico  in  1848  and  in  1853, 
when   forty-five   thousand    square    miles    were    purchased 
from  Mexico  —  known  as  the  Gadsden  Purchase,  from  the 
name  of  the  negotiator  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  Area. 
(Map,  p.  428).     The  total  area  of  the  United  States  was 
now  over  three  million  square  miles,  in  comparison  with  two 


458 


Secession 


[§320 


Center  of 

population, 

1860. 


millions  in  1830  and  less  than  eight  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  in  1783.  The  settled  area  had  increased  even 
more  rapidly  —  from  six  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
square  miles  in  1830  to  nearly  twelve  hundred  thousand 
square  miles  (1,194,754)  in  1860. 

The    center  of  population  moved  westward   with  ever- 
increasing  rapidity  —  one    hundred    and   ninety-one    miles 


Density  of  population,  1860 

in  the  years  1830-60,  in  comparison  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles  in  the  preceding  thirty  years  (map, 
p.  296).  The  western  progress  of  this  artificial  point  during 
the  last  decade  (1850-60)  was  owing  to  the  rapid  settle 
ment  of  California  and  Oregon,  and  shows  how  artificial, 
misleading,  and  inaccurate  it  is  as  denoting  density  of  popu 
lation  or  national  growth:  in  1850  twelve  persons  at  San 
Francisco  had  as  much  weight  in  determining  this  artificial 
point  as  forty  at  New  York.  Nevertheless,  until  1850, 
and  after  1870,  the  movement  of  the  center  of  population 


1 860]  Population  459 

indicates  in  a  rough  way  the  growth  of  the  population  of  the 
several  sections.  Since  1830  nine  states  had  been  added 
to  the  Union,  and  another,  Kansas,  was  demanding  admis 
sion  :  of  those  admitted,  Arkansas  (1836),  Florida  (1845), 
and  Texas  (1846)  were  slave  states ;  the  other  six  were  free 
states:  Michigan  (1837),  Iowa  (1846),  Wisconsin  (1848), 
California  (1850),  Minnesota  (1858),  and  Oregon  (1859). 
It  should  be  noted  that  the  admission  of  California  gave 
the  free  states  a  majority  in  the  Senate,  which  was  further 
increased  by  the  admission  of  Minnesota  and  Oregon. 

321.  Slave  and  Free  Sections  compared.  —  The  area  of  influence  of 
the  United  States  open  to  slavery  was  vastly  larger  than  that  slavery- 
preserved  to  freedom.  Much  of  the  former  was  still  unoc 
cupied,  but  the  settled  area  given  over  to  slavery  was  greater 
than  that  devoted  to  freedom.  The  settled  slave  region  was 
as  fertile  as  any  part  of  the  United  States.  It  contained 
enormous  stores  of  coal  and  iron  and  possessed  vast  water 
powers,  great  forests,  and  a  climate  in  every  way  suited 
to  all  kinds  of  human  occupations.  Yet,  with  these  great 
natural  advantages,  the  slave  states  contained  only  twelve 
million  of  the  thirty-one  million  inhabitants  of  the  United, 
States.  Moreover,  as  slaves  formed  fully  one  third  of  the 
population  of  the  Southern  states,  the  white  population  of 
the  slave  and  free  states  was  in  the  proportion  of  eight  to 
twenty.  The  effect  of  slavery  in  limiting  population  will 
become  apparent  by  a  study  of  the  accompanying  map, 
showing  the  density  of  population  by  states.  It  will  be 
seen,  for  instance,  that  only  two  slave  states,  Maryland  and 
Delaware,  contained  over  forty-five  inhabitants  to  the  square 
mile,  and  five  states  fewer  than  eighteen  to  the  square  mile. 
On  the  other  hand,  four  free  states  contained  over  ninety 
persons  to  the  square  mile  and  three  large  free  states,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  between  forty-five  and 
ninety.  Indeed,  two  Northern  cities  alone  contained  more 
people  than  the  state  of  South  Carolina  or  of  Texas,  while 
one  Northern  city  held  more  free  whites  than  any  slave 
state. 


460 


Secession 


[§321 


Northern 
cities. 


Southern 
cities. 


The  growth  of  Northern  cities  had  been  wonderful.  The 
urban  population  of  the  country,  as  a  whole,  had  increased 
from  eight  hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand  in  1830  to  over 
five  millions  in  1860.  In  1830  less  than  seven  per  cent  of 
the  population  had  been  gathered  into  cities;  in  1860  more 
than  sixteen  per  cent  was  classed  as  urban.  The  opening 
of  the  commercial  route  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  sea 
board  by  the  Erie  canal  and  the  Hudson  River  had  con 
tributed  greatly  to  the  increase  of  the  population  of  the 
two  cities  at  the  ends  of  the  line,  New  York  and  Chicago. 
In  1830  the  population  of  New  York  numbered  less  than 
two  hundred  thousand;  by  1860  it  had  increased  fourfold, 
and  now  numbered  eight  hundred  and  seven  thousand. 
Chicago  in  1833  had  thirty-three  names  on  the  voting  list; 
in  1860  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  persons  lived 
within  its  limits. 

There  were  many  other  large  cities  of  from  one  hundred 
thousand  to  five  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  —  Philadel 
phia,  Brooklyn,  Boston,  Cincinnati,  Buffalo,  and  Newark. 
There  were  only  three  cities  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line 
with  over  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  —  Baltimore, 
New  Orleans,  and  St.  Louis.  Of  these,  New  Orleans  alone 
was  situated  within  the  limits  of  the  states  which  seceded. 
In  the  North,  also,  there  were  very  many  manufacturing 
towns,  growing  rapidly  and  increasing  in  number.  In  the 
South  there  were  no  manufacturing  towns  and  almost  no 
commerce.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  seven  cotton  mills  in 
operation,  only  eight  were  in  the  South ;  of  the  thirty  thou 
sand  miles  of  railroad,  but  ten  thousand  were  in  the  South. 
[To  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  slave  states  were  socially, 
economically,  and  commercially  where  they  were  in  1810. 
'"Alone  in  all  the  world  she  [the  South]  stood,  unmoved  by 
the  '  whirl  and  rush '  of  modern  civilization,"  said  one 
Southern  man.  "  From  the  rattle  with  which  the  nurse 
tickled  the  ear  of  the  child  to  the  shroud  for  the  dead,"  said 
another,  "  everything  that  the  Southerners  used  came  from 
the  North." 


:86o]  Population  461 

322.  Transportation. — The  first  period  of  railway  build-  Railway 
ing  ended  in  1849  ;  there  were  then  between  six  and  seven  bglll(h("f' 
thousand  miles  of  railways  in  the  country.  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois  were  still  open  fields.  Between  1849  and  1858 
there  was  great  activity  in  railway  construction  :  more  than 
twenty-one  thousand  miles  were  built  in  those  years.  There 
was  then  a  slackening,  owing  to  the  panic  of  1857,  but  by 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  there  were  thirty  thousand 
miles  in  operation.  The  maps  of  the  northeastern  states 
had  begun  to  take  on  that  gridironed  appearance  which  is 
so  familiar  to  the  map  reader  of  the  present  time.  At  the 
same  time  that  the  railway  system  was  being  extended 
existing  lines  were  connected  and  worked  in  harmony.  In 
1850  one  could  not  go  by  rail  from  New  York  to  either 
Boston  or  Albany,  as  the  journey  was  broken  in  places  by 
water  transport ;  in  1860  one  continuous  line  of  rails  stretched 
from  New  York  to  the  Mississippi. 

The  great  extension  of  the  railway  lines  in  the  newer  The  land 
states  west  of  the  Alleghanies  was  due  largely  to  the  stimulus  grants- 
which  came  from  congressional  grants  of  lands  to  the  rail 
roads  in  that  section.  This  process  was  begun  in  1850  by  a 
grant  in  aid  of  the  Illinois  Central.  Congress  gave  to  the 
state  of  Illinois  every  alternate  section  of  the  public  lands 
on  either  side  of  the  proposed  railroad,  and  the  state,  on  its 
part,  turned  over  the  land  grants  to  the  railroad  company  in 
consideration  of  a  cash  payment  and  a  percentage  of  the 
gross  receipts  of  the  road  when  built.  This  policy  was 
repeated  in  the  case  of  other  roads,  and  no  less  than  one 
hundred  and  eighty  million  acres  of  the  public  lands  were 
given  in  aid  of  the  building  of  railroads,  especially  in  the 
"  Old  Northwest,"  but  the  privilege  was  sometimes  abused 
by  dishonest  and  greedy  railroad  promoters. 

During  the  same  period  water  transport,  both  domestic   Steamboats. 
and  foreign,  greatly  increased.     There  was  often  the  most 
criminal   recklessness   in   the    management  of  steamboats, 
especially  on  the  interior  waterways.     In  1852,  on  the  motion 
of  Senator  John  Davis  of  Massachusetts,  Congress  passed  an 


462 


Secession 


[§323 


The 

mercantile 
marine. 


Cause  of 

prosperity, 

1840-60. 


excellent  act  for  the  regulation  of  steam  traffic  on  the  water. 
This  law,  with  some  changes  suggested  by  later  experience, 
is  still  in  force. 

American  maritime  industry  was  at  its  highest  point  in 
the  decade  before  the  war.  In  1861  the  tonnage  of  the 
United  States  exceeded  that  of  any  other  nation  :  no  less 
than  five  and  one  half  million  tons  of  shipping  was  regis 
tered  under  the  American  flag,  in  comparison  with  four  and 
one  half  millions  on  the  British  shipping  list.  In  1860  three 
quarters  of  the  exports  of  the  United  States  were  carried  in 
American  vessels. 

323.  Material  Prosperity.  —  Mr.  Rhodes,  in  his  interest 
ing  chapter  on  the  condition  of  the  country  in  1860,  asserts 
"no  one  can  doubt  that  from  1846  to  1857  the  country  was 
very  prosperous."  This  prosperity  was  the  result  of  a  for 
tunate  combination  of  many  causes,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  national  domain,  the 
great  extension  of  lines  of  railroad,  and  the  large  increase  of 
foreign  commerce,  especially  with  Great  Britain.  The  first 
two  of  these  have  been  described  in  preceding  sections ;  it 
will  be  well  to  consider  the  last  more  in  detail.  The  im 
ports  and  exports  of  the  United  States  had  trebled  in  value 
since  1830,  The  increase  in  imports  was  due  in  part  to  the 
great  demand  for  manufactured  iron  in  the  construction  of 
railroads,  and  to  the  increased  use  of  other  foreign  manu 
factures,  owing  to  the  low  rates  of  impost  under  the  Walker 
Tariff,  In  part,  also,  it  was  due  to  the  importation  of  raw 
materials  for  the  use  of  American  manufacturers.  The 
growth  of  exports  was  owing  largely  to  the  repeal  of  the 
British  corn  laws,  and  the  establishment  of  free  trade  which 
took  place  at  the  same  time.  The  repeal  of  the  corn  laws 
permitted  the  importation  of  cheap  food  stuffs  into  England. 
It  greatly  diminished  the  cost  of  living  there,  especially 
among  the  workers,  and  made  it  possible  for  them  to  accept 
lower  wages.  The  abolition  of  duties  on  the  raw  material 
of  manufacture,  and  the  low  cost  of  labor,  enabled  Eng 
lish  manufacturers  to  gain  control  of  the  markets  of  the 


1860]  Prosperity  463 

world.  British  manufacturing  industries  were  greatly  stimu 
lated,  and  the  demand  for  raw  materials  kept  pace  with  the 
increase  in  manufacturing.  The  cheap  food  stuffs  and  the 
most  important  raw  materials  were  provided  by  the  United 
States :  in  1860  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  million 
bushels  of  wheat  were  grown,  of  which  twenty-five  thousand 
were  raised  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  corn  crop  of 
that  year  amounted  to  over  eight  hundred  million  bushels. 
The  demand  for  cotton  by  British  and  Northern  spinners 
had  stimulated  the  cultivation  of  that  plant ;  the  South  pro 
duced  about  seven  eighths  of  all  the  cotton  grown  in  the 
world  ;  the  crop  of  1859  amounted  to  four  million  six  hun 
dred  thousand  bales,  the  largest  crop  grown  before  the  war. 
The  demand  for  cotton  was  constantly  outstripping  the 
supply;  in  1860  the  consumption  exceeded  even  the  large 
crop  of  that  year;  Northern  manufacturers  used  one  and 
one  half  million  bales,  and  four  and  one  half  millions  more 
were  exported,  mainly  to  Great  Britain. 

The  epoch  under  review  also  witnessed  a  great  increase  in  Manufactur- 
manufacturing  enterprises  in  the  United  States,  which  is  the  in& lndus" 
more  notable  in  view  of  the  fact  that  these  were  the  years 
when  the  duties  on  imported  goods  were  lower  than  at  any 
time  since  1824.  Furthermore,  the  period  of  greatest 
expansion  was  in  the  decade  1850  to  1860,  when  the  duties 
were  at  the  lowest.  A  few  figures  will  serve  to  show  the 
extent  and  character  of  this  growth  :  the  capital  employed 
in  manufacturing  had  increased  nearly  fourfold,  the  number 
of  hands  employed  had  more  than  doubled,  and  the  value 
of  the  manufactured  product  had  grown  from  one  thousand 
millions  in  1850  to  over  four  thousand  millions  in  1860.  In 
this  great  industrial  activity  the  South  had  little  part :  Vir 
ginia  produced  fifty  and  one  half  million  dollars'  worth  of 
manufactured  commodities ;  no  other  Southern  state  pro 
duced  as  much.  New  England  still  led  in  cotton  manufac 
turing;  in  1860  there  were  five  million  spindles  in  operation 
in  the  United  States,  of  which  over  four  million  were  in  the 
New  England  states.  The  iron  industry  had  also  thriven, 


464 


Secession 


[§324 


Inventions. 


The  Panic 
of  1857. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  III, 
38-55. 


and  the  mines  of  coal,  iron,  copper,  and  gold  were  beginning 
to  yield  their  wonderful  stores ;  but  the  period  of  expansion 
of  the  iron  and  coal  industries  belongs  to  the  thirty  years 
following  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  and  will  be  de 
scribed  in  a  succeeding  chapter  (p.  576). 

It  has  already  been  noted  how  unfruitful  the  American 
mind  was  before  1800.  By  1830  its  genius  had  begun  to 
unfold  itself,  and  the  thirty  years  between  Jackson's  and 
Lincoln's  inaugurations  were  marked  by  great  and  wonderful 
inventions.  The  electric  telegraph  and  the  reaper  have 
been  already  mentioned  (p.  426).  The  first  locomotives 
built  in  the  United  States  were  framed  on  English  models, 
and  the  coaches  were  like  those  still  in  use  in  England. 
Soon,  however,  new  types  were  developed,  better  suited  to 
American  roads  and  to  the  needs  of  American  travelers. 
The  breech-loading  rifle,  the  harvester,  and  the  sewing  ma 
chine  all  belong  to  the  decade  immediately  preceding  1860. 
The  year  1852  saw  the  electric  fire-alarm  system  in  success 
ful  operation,  and  in  1853  the  first  practicable  steam  fire 
engine  made  its  appearance.  In  1858  an  electric  cable  was 
laid  under  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  it  stopped  working,  how 
ever,  almost  immediately,  and  the  first  successful  cable  was 
opened  to  business  in  1866.  By  1860  the  growth  of  large 
fortunes  had  begun  :  this  growth  was  coeval  with  the  railroad 
and  the  telegraph,  and  at  the  same  time  poverty  had  become 
more  marked.  This  was  largely  due  to  the  poorer  character 
of  many  of  the  immigrants  who  came  over  in  these  years. 

324.  Financial  Policy,  1857-61. — It  seems  to  be  un 
fortunately  true  that  commercial  successes  are  always  fol 
lowed  by  periods  of  great  depression.,  The  outburst  of 
activity  of  Jackson's  "reign"  was  followed  by  the  panic 
of  1837,,  Similar  causes  —  too  much  speculation,  too  rapid 
railroad  building,  too  great  locking  up  of  capital  in  mills  and 
factories  —  brought  on  a  stringency  in  the  money  market, 
which  in  turn  led  to  a  financial  crash  in  1857.  From  this 
the  country  had  scarcely  recovered  when  the  Civil  War  broke 
out.  Many  persons,  instead  of  attributing  the  financial 


1860]  Financial  Policy  465 

stringency  to  its  true  cause,  —  the  great  expansion  of  com 
mercial  creditj  —  believed  it  to  be  the  result  of  the  govern 
ment's  collecting  more  revenue  than  it  expended.    Congress,   Tariff  of 
therefore,  modified  the  Walker  Tariff  by  reducing  duties  to   l857- 

,  ,  111  11-  i  Rhodes's 

a  lower  point  than  they  had  reached  since  the  enactment 


of  the  tariff  of  1816.     This  was  done  in  1857,  and  for  three   states,  in, 
years  thereafter  the  people  lived  under  a  lower  tariff  than  4t-56- 
they  had  done  since  the  War  of  1812.     The  period  of  de 
pression  following  the  panic  of  1857  caused  the  revenues  to 
fall  off,  and  in  1861  Congress  again  took  the  tariff  in  hand. 
A  bill  was  introduced  by  Senator  Morrill  of  Vermont,  and   Morrill 
passed   before   the  close   of  Buchanan's  term   (1861).     It   Tariff>  ^6 
changed  the  ad  valorem  duties  of  the  Walker  Tariff  to  spe-    united 
cific  duties,  and  generally  increased  the  rates,  especially  on   states,  ill, 
iron,  and,  in  addition,  laid  a  tax  on  wool  imported.     In  1860   57~59< 
the  income  of  the  general  government  was  fifty-five  million 
dollars,  and  its  expenditures  ten  million  more  ;  the  national 
debt  at  that  time  was  less  than  sixty-  five  million  dollars.     It 
will  be  interesting  to  remember  these  figures  when  we  come 
to  consider  the  financial  position  of  the  government  during 
the  war,  and,  later,  in  the  great  period  of  material  develop 
ment  which  followed  its  close. 

325.  Mental  Activity.  —  The  increasing  fertility  in  inven-  Mental 
tion  came  at  a  time  when  the  people  began  to  change  their  activity. 
ideas  as  to  learning  and  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect. 
Popular  lecturers,  as  Wendell  Phillips,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
and  John  B.  Gough,  traveled  about  the  country  instructing 
and  stimulating  thousands  of  minds  through  the  medium 
of  the  "lyceum"  system  of  lectures.  Emerson,  also,  was 
listened  to  from  the  platform,  and  read  with  eagerness. 
Prescott,  Bancroft,  and  Motley  were  doing  their  best  work, 
and  Francis  Parkman  had  begun  his  study  of  "  the  warfare 
of  the  forest,"  which  has  since  borne  such  splendid  fruit. 
George  Ticknor  was  bringing  the  literature  of  Spain  to  the 
notice  of  his  countrymen  ;  Longfellow,  Whittier,  Lowell, 
Holmes,  and  Bryant  were  all  writing.  Bryant  also  edited  a 
newspaper,  and  Horace  Greeley  had  founded  the  New  York 


American  historians 
466 


1860]  Election  of  1860  467 

Tribune,  which  for  a  long  time  exercised  a  remarkable 
influence  upon  the  public  mind.  George  William  Curtis  had 
begun  his  career  as  an  essayist,  and  Hawthorne  and  Mrs. 
Stowe  were  at  work  creating  an  American  literature  of 
fiction. 

With  this  mental  awakening  had  come  a  distinct  improve 
ment  in  private  morals,  and  a  remarkable  diminution  in 
habits  of  drunkenness  among  the  people  of  the  North.  On 
the  other  hand,  physical  exercise  for  the  purpose  of  build 
ing  up  the  body  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  all  appre 
ciated,  and  the  bodily  health  of  the  Northern  people  was 
never  at  a  lower  ebb  than  in  1860.  In  the  South,  life  was 
freer,  and  there  was  more  outdoor  exercise ;  but  the  food 
of  the  Southern  people  was  even  more  unwholesome  than 
was  that  of  the  Northerners.  Moreover,  apart  from  politics, 
there  was  a  complete  mental  stagnation  at  the  South. 

326.   Election  of  1860.  —  Up  to  this  time  the  Democratic   Election  of 
party  had  remained   united  —  at   least   outwardly.      Now,    l86a 
however,  the  demands  put  forth  by  the  slave  power  were    united* ' 
more  than  Northern  Democrats  could  endure.     The  Demo-   states,  v, 
cratic  National  Convention  met  at  Charleston,  South  Caro-   454-469; 
Una,  in  April,  1860.    The  Northern  Democrats,  with  Douglas   Elections, 
for  their  candidate,  were  willing  to  accept  the  Dred  Scott   214-235. 
opinion,  and  any  decision  which  the  Supreme  Court  might 
make  as  to  slavery.    The  Southerners  demanded  that  the  con-   Split  in  the 
vention  should  lay  down  as  one  of  the  principles  ofthe  party   Democratic 
that  Congress  should  assume  the  protection  of  slavery  in   R^odes's 
the  territories  ;  they  also  declared  that  the  Northerners  must    Untied 
advocate  slavery  and  acknowledge  that  slavery  was  morally   states>  n' 
right  —  nothing  else  would  satisfy  the  South.    The  Northern  4 
delegates  were  in  the  majority ;  they  adopted  the  Douglas 
platform  and  the  Southern  men  withdrew.    The  convention 
then  adjourned  to  Baltimore  in  the  hope  that  time  would 
bring  about  a  reconciliation.       In  the  end,  the  Northern 
Democrats  nominated  Douglas,  and  the  Southern   Demo 
crats  Breckinridge. 

The   moderate    men   of   all    parties   and   the   remnants 


American  poets 

For  portrait  of  Longfellow  see  p.  446 
468 


i86o] 


Election  of  1860 


469 


tutional 
Union  party. 


of  the   Know-nothings  held  a  convention,   and  nominated   Consti- 
Governor  John  Bell  of  Tennessee  for  President,  as  the  candi 
date  of  what  they  termed  the  Constitutional  Union  party. 

The  Republicans  held  their  convention  at  Chicago  in 
May,  1860,  and  adopted  a  studiously  moderate  platform. 
They  denied  any  intention  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the 
states,  which  in  their  opinion  was  a  matter  for  the  voters  of 


Republican,  WM Constitutional 
Lincoln.         t^v/J  Union,  Bell. 


Election  of  1860 

each  state  to  settle  for  themselves  whenever  and  as  often  as 
they  pleased.  They  demanded,  however,  that  Congress 
should  prohibit  slavery  in  the  territories  —  for  them  the 
Dred  Scott  decision  had  no  validity.  They  also  declared  in 
favor  of  the  protective  system  and  internal  improvements 
at  the  charge  of  the  general  government. 

The  selection  of  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  proved  to 
be  difficult.  Seward  and  Chase  were  the  most  prominent 
leaders  in  the  party  ;  but  they  had  been  "  too  conspicuous," 
and  Seward  was  regarded  as  a  visionary.  Lincoln  was  corn- 


Nomination 

of  Lincoln. 
Rhodes's 
United 
States,  II, 
456. 


470 


Secession 


[§326 


paratively  unknown ;  he  had  few  enemies,  and  was  strong 
in  the  doubtful  Western  states  which  had  been  carried  by  the 
Democrats  in  1856.  His  "availability,"  to  use  a  modern 
political  phrase,  commended  him  to  the  delegates ;  but  his 
nomination  was  hastened  by  the  transfer  to  him  of  the 
votes  of  fifty  delegates  who  were  pledged  to  Cameron 
of  Pennsylvania.  This  transfer  was  made  in  consequence  of 
a  promise  given  by  Lincoln's  friends  that  Cameron  should 
have  a  cabinet  position ;  it  should,  however,  be  said  that 

this  was  in  oppo 
sition  to  Lincoln's 
express  direction. 
His  nomination 
was  received  with 
some  indignation 
by  the  abolition 
ists.  "  Who  is  this 
^  huckster  in  poli 

tics,"  demanded 
Wendell  Phillips, 
who  declared  that 
Lincoln  was  "  the 
slave-hound  of  Illi 
nois."  The  Garri 
sons,  in  the  biog- 

Wendell  Phillips  raphy        Qf       thdr 

father,  have  declared  that  "  to  the  country  at  large  he  [Lin 
coln]  was  an  obscure,  not  to  say  an  unknown  man."  It  is 
certain  that  few  persons  then  realized  the  grandeur  of 
Lincoln's  character,  his  splendid  common  sense,  and  his 
marvelous  insight  into  the  real  nature  of  things. 

The  dissensions  in  the  Democratic  party,  in  combination 
with  the  growing  sentiment  in  the  North  against  the  further 
extension  of  slavery,  resulted  in  the  election  of  Lincoln  by 
an  overwhelming  majority  of  electoral  votes.  He  polled 
fewer  votes  in  the  country  at  large,  however,  than  his  rivals, 
and  his  plurality  in  several  Northern  states  was  very  small. 


1860]  Election  of  1860  471 

327.  Secession  Threatened,  November,  1860.  —  Alone  of  Threats  of 
all  the  states,  South  Carolina  adhered  to  the  undemocratic^  g6^1^ 
practice  of  choosing  presidential  electors  by  vote  of  the  legis-  united 
lature,  instead  of  by  popular  vote,  as  in  every  other  state,  states,  v, 
The  South  Carolina  legislature  assembled  to  perform  this  duty,  Rhodes-s 
chose  electors  pledged  to   Breckinridge,  and  remained  in  United 
session  until  the  result  of  the  election  was  assured.     When  states.  III, 
it  became  certain  that  Lincoln  was  elected,  it  passed  meas 

ures  for  the  military  defense  of  the  state,  and  summoned  a 
state  convention  to  meet  on  December  17  (1860).  To 
this  latter  action,  it  was  urged  by  the  governor,  who  had 
ascertained  that  other  Southern  states  would  probably  co 
operate  with  South  Carolina  in  whatever  steps  it  was  deemed 
advisable  to  take. 

The  legislature  of  Georgia  assembled  on  November  8, 
In  that  state  there  was  a  good  deal  of  opposition  to  the 
plans  of  the  Southern  leaders.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  one  v 
of  the  foremost  men  in  the  South  and  long  one  of  Georgia's 
representatives  in  the  Federal  Congress,  made  a  strong 
speech  in  opposition,  from  which  a  few  sentences  are  here 
given  :  "  The  election  of  no  man,  constitutionally  chosen  to 
the  presidency,  is  sufficient  cause  for  any  state  to  separate 
from  the  Union.  Let  the  fanatics  of  the  North  break  the 
Constitution  ...  let  not  the  South,  let  not  us,  be  the  ones 
to  commit  the  aggression."  Nevertheless  the  Georgia  legis 
lature  followed  South  Carolina's  example  and  summoned  a 
state  convention,  as  did  the  legislatures  of  several  other 
Southern  states. 

328.  Compromise  Suggestions.  —  Congress  met  on  Decem-  Buchanan's 
ber  8,  1860,  and  listened  to  the  reading  of  Buchanan's  last   ^sosage> 
message.     The  President  appeared  to  think  that  the  move-   schouler's 
ments  in  the  South  looking  towards  secession  were  partly    United 


justified  by  the  antislavery  agitation  in  the  North  —  appar-      ae^<    • 
ently  there  was  something  sacred  in  slavery  which  placed   Rhodes's 


it  on  a  different  ground  from  a  rotten  civil  service  or  a 
protective  tariff.  The  "  personal  liberty  laws  "  were  also 
mentioned  as  justifying  the  attitude  of  the  South.  Bucha- 


4/2 


Secession 


[§329 


Crittenden 

Compromise 

scheme, 

1860. 

Schouler's 

United 

States  V 


nan  did  not 
secession  was 
it  illegal.  He  thought,  however,  that  there  was 


believe   with   the  Southern  Democrats   that 
a  legal  right;   on  the  contrary,  he  deemed 

no  con- 


stitutional  means  whereby  the  secession  of  a  state  could 
be  prevented.  A  state  could  not  be  coerced.  It  does  not 
seem  to  have  occurred  to  Buchanan  that  the  Constitution 
had  been  expressly  constructed  to  afford  the  general  govern 
ment  the  power  to  coerce  individual  men  who  interrupted 

the  due  execution  of  the 
federal  laws.  Later  on, 
under  the  stress  of  war, 
the  Northern  Democrats 
invented  a  convenient 
doctrine  that  a  Northern 
"  sovereign  state,"  as 
Pennsylvania,  might  wage 
war  on  a  Southern  "  sov 
ereign  state,"  as  South 
Carolina,  through  the 
agency  of  the  general 
government.  In  his  mes 
sage,  the  President  also 
suggested  the  adoption 
of  amendments  to  the 
Constitution  securing  slav 
ery  in  the  states  where  it  existed  and  in  the  territories,  and 
compelling  the  release  of  fugitive  slaves.  Buchanan  was  a 
Northern  man,  a  Pennsylvanian  ;  but  he  had  been  long  under 
the  influence  of  Southern  leaders  and  seems  at  this  time 
to  have  fallen  in  completely  with  their  schemes, 

329.  The  Crittenden  Compromise.  —  Another  and  more 
promising  attempt  to  arrange  matters  was  proposed  by 
Senator  John  J.  Crittenden  of  Kentucky.  He  suggested 
that  amendments  to  the  Constitution  should  be  adopted  : 

(1)  to  secure  the  fulfillment  of  the  Missouri  Compromise; 

(2)  to  provide  that  states  should  be  slave  or  free  as  their 
constitutions  should  dictate ;  and  (3)  to  make  it  the  duty 


James  Buchanan 


1860]  Secession  of  Seven  States  4/3 

of  Congress  to  secure  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves  to  their  *Rhodes's 

masters  or  pay  the  value  of  the  fugitive  to  the  claimant. 

Mr.  Rhodes  thinks  that  this  scheme  might  have  furnished 

the  basis  for  a  compromise,  but  other  writers  hardly  agree   stem's  Ora- 

with  him.     The  plan  was  finally  rejected  on  March  2,  1861,  **<>**•  Ill> 

two  days  before  Lincoln's  inauguration.. 

330.  Secession  of  Seven   States,   1860-61.  —  On  the  day  secession  of 
(December  17,  1860)  that  Senator  Crittenden  brought  for-   the  cotton 
ward  this  conciliatory  proposition,  the  South  Carolina  con-   ^^ 
vention  met  at  Charleston.    "  Commissioners  "  and  leading   Schouier's 
men  from  other  Southern  states  were  present  to  urge  haste,    United 
but  there  was  at  least  one  memorial  urging  delay;  it  was  488_4g2-' 
suppressed.      Three    days   later    the   convention   adopted   Rhodes's 
unanimously  an  "  ordinance  to  dissolve  the  Union  between    Umted 
the  state  of  South  Carolina  and  other  states  united  with  her   I96> 
under  the  compact  entitled  '  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  of  America.'  "     It  also  adopted  a  "  Declaration  of  the 
immediate  causes  which  induce  and  justify  the  secession  of 
South  Carolina  from  the  Federal  Union."     Before  March, 
1 86 1,  six  other  states  had  joined  her  :  Mississippi  (January  9, 
1861),    Florida    (January    10),    Alabama    (January    n), 
Georgia  (January  19),  Louisiana   (January  26),  and  Texas 
(February  i). 

Nothing  shows  more  clearly  the  stagnation  of  Southern 
constitutional  life  than  the  action  of  these  conventions. 
They  proceeded  precisely  on  the  lines  of  the  conven 
tions  of  the  Revolutionary  epoch,  The  democratic  spirit 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  had  so  profoundly  influ 
enced  political  action  in  the  North,  had  not  produced  the 
least  effect  in  the  South.  Only  one  of  these  ordinances  of 
secession  was  submitted  to  the  people  for  ratification,  and 
that  one  (Texas)  only  because  the  election  of  delegates  to 
her  state  convention  had  been  so  irregular  that  it  could 
not  well  be  avoided.  The  conventions  which  had  been 
elected  to  consider  this  question  exercised  the  power  of  the 
people  of  the  states  which  had  chosen  them,  and  did  many 
things  which  probably  the  majority  of  the  voters  had  no 


474 


Secession 


[§33o 


Confederate 
States' 

Constitution, 
1861. 


thought  of  authorizing.  Spurred  on  by  the  political  chiefs, 
the  conventions  elected  delegates  to  a  "  constitutional  con 
vention,"  which  met  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  February  4, 
1 86 1,  This  convention  adopted  a  provisional  constitution 
for  the  "Confederate  States  of  America,"  whose  principal 
business  was  "  to  recognize  and  protect  .  .  .  the  institution 
of  slavery  as  it  now  exists  in  the  Confederate  States." 
The  convention  also  chose  Jefferson  Davis  provisional 


Jefferson 
Davis. 


The  United  States,   1861 

president  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  provisional  vice- 
president  of  the  Confederacy.  Davis  had  no  fear  of  war,  but 
"  if  war  must  come,  it  must  be  on  Northern  and  not  on  South 
ern  soil,"  he  said ;  "  we  will  carry  war  where  it  is  easy  to 
advance,  where  food  for  the  sword  and  torch  awaits  our 
armies  in  the  densely  populated  cities."  On  his  return  to 
Savannah,  Stephens  addressed  his  state  compatriots  in  lan 
guage  whose  strange  sound  shows  how  completely  the  South 
was  out  of  sympathy  with  modern  civilization.  The  new 


1861]  Cause  of  Secession  475 

government's  "  foundations  are  laid,  its  corner  stone  rests  A.  H. 

upon  the  great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white   Stephens. 

.        , .  t.  ,  .     ,  .      Stedman  and 

man ;  that  slavery,  subordination  to  the  natural  race,  is  his   Hutchinson, 

natural  and  normal  condition.     This  our  new  government  is   VI 1, 162; 
the  first  in  the  history  of  the  world  based  upon  this  great   ^*^\v 
physical,  philosophical,  and  moral  truth."  39-50. 

331.   The   Underlying   Cause   of   Secession.  —  A  student 
who  knows  nothing  from  personal  experience  of  the  passions   Measure 
and  humors  of  that  time  finds  it  difficult  to  understand  why   £f  theb]. 
Lincoln's  election  to  the  presidency  should  have  impelled  the   triumph?*11 
Southerners  to  stake  their  prosperity  and  their  institutions  on   Johnston's 
the  uncertain  issue  of  civil  war.     Lincoln  had  gained  a  large    m  ajx  ' 
majority  in  the  electoral  college,  —  one  hundred  and  eighty 
votes  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  for  the  other  three 
candidates  combined.     His   opponents,    however,   had   re 
ceived  nearly  one  million  more  votes  than  he  had  obtained. 
The  Republicans  would  be  in  a  minority  in  the  new  House 
of  Representatives,  and   the   Senate  would   be    hostile  to 
them.      No  possible  immediate  danger  threatened  South 
ern  institutions  :  the  Republicans  could  not  have  legislated 
against  slavery,  had  they  so  desired.    It  is  extremely  probable 
that,  had  the  South  remained  in  the  Union,  it  would  have 
taken  years  to  bring  about  abolition.     The  levying  of  war 
by  the  seceded  states,  and  the  departure  of  their  represen 
tatives   and    senators   from    Congress,   changed   the   whole 
course  of  affairs,  as  will  appear  in  a  moment. 

The  leaders  of  opinion  in  the  South  thought  they  saw  in   Fears  of 
the  aroused  moral  sentiment  of  the  North  immediate  danger  Southern 
to  Southern  institutions.     For  years  they  had  held  the  chief 
power  in  the  national  councils ;    in  the  future  they  would 
have  to  take  the  second  place.     It  is  also  reasonably  certain 
that  they  felt  the  sting  of  the  moral  reproach  under  which 
they  were  living,  and  they  must  have  realized  that  in  the 
nature  of  things  slavery  was  doomed  to  extinction  at  some 
future  time,  though  when  and  by  what  means  it  would  be 
brought  about,  no  one  could  say  in  1860. 

The  mass  of  the  Southern  voters,  who  elected  the  seces- 


476  Secession  [§332 

sion  conventions  and  agreed  to  secession,  had  no  thought 
of  permanent  separation  from  the  Union  when  they  cast 
their  ballots.  They  expected  to  make  better  terms  for 
themselves  out  of  the  Union  than  could  be  gained  while 
members  of  it.  Stephens  says  that  it  was  this  argument 
which  brought  about  the  defeat  of  the  Southern  moderates 
in  1860.  The  step  of  secession  once  authorized,  the  further 
step  of  Southern  confederation  was  taken  without  again  ob 
taining  the  sense  of  the  voters.  It  must  be  admitted,  how 
ever,  that  after  the  conflict  was  once  begun,  the  Southerners 
Rhodes's  were  practically  unanimous  for  its  prosecution.  No  doubt 
u™ted  jt  js  true  tjiat  on]v  three  voters  in  ten  were  slaveholders, 

and  that  only  two  million  whites  were  supported  directly  by 
the  forced  labor  of  negroes,  but  the  slaveholders  were  the 
leaders  of  public  opinion.     They  were  distinctly  in  a  minor 
ity,  but  the  majority  followed  blindly  whither  they  led. 
Southern  332.    Southern   Blunders.  —  The  slaveholders  were  in  a 

blunders.  minority  in  the  South,  the  Southerners  were  in  a  minority 
in  the  country  as  a  whole,  and  the  South  —  economically 
and  physically  —  was  hopelessly  inferior  to  the  North.  Not 
withstanding  this,  the  Southern  chiefs  seem  never  to  have 
looked  the  facts  squarely  in  the  face  and  asked  themselves 
what  the  cost  of  failure  would  be.  Perhaps  they  never 
deemed  failure  possible  :  the  Northerners  had  often  yielded 
to  their  furious  attacks;  why  should  they  resist  now? 
Prudent  leaders  in  these  circumstances  would  have  done 
nothing  to  increase  the  fighting  strength  of  their  opponents  ; 
the  Southerners  did  their  best  to  augment  it.  They  formed 
a  new  government  and  waged  war  on  the  Union.  The 
withdrawal  of  tReir  representatives  and  senators  made  the 
Republicans  supreme  in  Congress  and  gave  the  President 
the  support  of  the  legislative  branch.  Their  attack  on 
the  Union  soldiers  at  once  brought  the  President's  "  war 
powers", (p.  246)  into  operation,  and  aroused  hostile  senti 
ment  in  the  North  as  nothing  else  would  have  done. 

In  time  of  peace  the  President's  functions  are  limited ; 
in   time  of  insurrection  and  civil  war  it  is  difficult  to  dis- 


1861]  Southern  Blunders  477 

cern  a  limit  to  his  authority  —  except  the  approval  of  the  The  Presi- 
mass  of  the  nation.  He  is  obliged  to  see  to  it  that  "  the  dent>s  ",^ar 
laws  are  faithfully  executed  "  ;  he  is  the  commander  in  chief 
of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  there 
is  no  limit  to  his  use  of  this  power.  In  time  of  war,  too, 
civil  institutions  give  way  to  military  authority.  "So  far 
from  it  being  true,"  said  ex-President  Adams  in  1842,  "that 
the  states  where  slavery  exists  have  the  exclusive  manage 
ment  of  the  subject,  not  only  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  but  the  commander  of  the  army  has  power  to  order 
the  universal  emancipation."  Six  years  earlier  Adams  had 
distinctly  warned  the  slave  owners  of  their  danger  :  "  From 
the  instant  that  your  slaveholding  states  become  the  theater 
of  war,"  he  said,  "  from  that  instant  the  war  powers  of  the 
Constitution  extend  to  interference  with  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  every  way."  Until  1860  the  contest  between 
slavery  and  freedom  had  been  fought  out  in  the  halls  of 
Congress,  where  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution  pro 
tected  the  slaveholders  at  every  turn ;  the  conflict  was  now 
transferred  to  the  field  of  battle,  where  the  weaker  com 
batant  would  have  no  protection  whatever. 

333 •   Apathy  of  the  Northerners.  — As  soon  as  secession  Apathy 
and  confederation  were  accomplished,  the  Southerners  set  to   of  the 

i  i  i  r    i        c    i       i  ^i        Northerners. 

work  to  possess  themselves  of  the  federal  property  in  the-  Morse's /.*«- 
South :  they  seized  arsenals  and  forts  without  resistance ;  coin,  i,  190. 
the  administration  remained  passive  or  only  uttered  mild 
and  unheeded  protests.  In  this  Buchanan  and  his  ad 
visers  but  echoed  the  general  feeling  in  the  North.  "  Let 
the  erring  sisters  depart  in  peace  "  was  heard  on  every  side. 
On  February  23,  1861,  Horace  Greeley  wrote  in  the  New 
York  Tribune  that  if  the  cotton  states  "  choose  to  form  an 
independent  nation,  they  have  a  clear  moral  right  so  to  do," 
and  very  many  Republican  journals  agreed  with  him.  Even 
as  late  as  April  9  Wendell  Phillips  said  from  the  lecture 
platform  :  the  Southern  states  "  think  that  their  peculiar  in 
stitutions  require  that  they  should  have  a  separate  govern 
ment.  They  have  a  right  to  decide  that  question  without 


478 


Secession 


[§333 


Albany 
conference. 


The  "  War 
Governors." 
Andrew's 
Message  of 
January, 
1861,  is 
in  Old  South 
Leaflets,  II, 
No.  8. 


appealing  to  you  or  me.  .  .  .  Abraham  Lincoln  has  no 
right  to  a  soldier  in  Fort  Sumter."  For  a  long  time  Gen 
eral  Dix's  famous  telegram,  "  If  any  one  attempts  to  haul 
down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot,"  remained 
the  only  indication  of  a  righting  spirit  in  leading  circles  of 
the  government. 

While  the  tide  of  secession  was  at  its  height  in  the  South, 
a  convention  met  at  Albany.  It  was  composed  of  conserva 
tive  men  of  all  shades  of  political  opinion,  and  was  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  believed  coercion  to  be  revolutionary. 
Later,  in  February,  a  peace  conference  was  held  at  Wash 
ington.  It  urged  on  Congress  the  adoption  of  the  Critten- 
den  Compromise  or  of  some  similar  plan.  The  march  of 
events  was  too  rapid  for  compromise  ;  the  Southerners  re 
lied  too  implicitly  on  their  own  enthusiasm  and  on  the  lack 
of  spirit  displayed  by  the  men  of  the  North. 

During  this  time  of  hesitation,  the  Republican  current 
was  still  running  strongly  in  the  North.  In  January,  1861, 
many  Republican  governors  were  sworn  into  office  —  some 
of  whom  continued  to  occupy  their  positions  during  the 
conflict,  or  the  greater  part  of  it ;  they  are  known 
familiarly  as  the  "  war  governors.,"  To  them  the  country 
owes  the  greatest  debt.  Recognizing  the  gravity  of  the 
crisis,  some  of  them  energetically  set  to  work  to  prepare 
their  states  for  war.  For  example,  Andrew  and  Buckingham 
ordered  large  quantities  of  arms  and  military  equipments. 
When  the  decisive  moment  came,  they  were  able  to  send 
their  state  troops  to  the  front  within  a  day  or  two  of  the  fall 
of  Fort  Sumter. 


SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS   AND    TOPICS 

As  preparation  for  this  chapter,  trace  the  constitutional,  economic, 
and  social  development  of  the  nation  by  making  continuous  summary 
of  portions  of  text  underlined  with  identical  colors;  make  continuous 
recitations  from  note-book  on  Slavery,  Particularism,  and  Nationalism; 
review  the  Three  Compromises  of  the  Constitution,  and  trace  the 
results  of  each  from  1789  to  1861. 


Questions  and  Topics  479 

§§  319~326-  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1860 

a.  Trace   the    history   of   the   policy   of    compromise   which    had 
marked  the  political  history  of  the  country  since   1775.      What  was 
the  effect  upon  the  slave  owners;  upon  the  self-respect  of  the  North 
erners;    upon   national  spirit?      Which  group  —  the  Northerners,  the 
Southerners,  or  the  slave  owners  —  do  you  respect  the  most?     Is  there 
any  group  of  people  during  this  time  which  wholly  commands  your 
respect?     Give  reasons  for  answer  to  each  part  of  this  question. 

b.  Explain  fully  how  immigration  aided  in  the  preservation  of  the 
Union. 

c.  Study  the  maps  showing  density  of  population,  and  arrange  the 
population  of  the  several  sections  by  states.     What  states  and  cities 
are  referred  to  in  the  last  lines  of  the  first  paragraph  of  p.  485  ?     Make 
other  similar  comparisons. 

d.  Explain  fully  the  effect  of  the  grants  of  public  lands  upon  rail 
road  development. 

e.  Trace  the  history  of  cotton  raising  from  1784  to  1890.     What 
was  the  largest  crop  of  cotton  raised  by  slave  labor;    by  free  labor? 

f.   Study  the  lives  of  the  men  whose  names  are  given  in  §  326. 

§  327.   ELECTION  OF  1860 

a.  Precisely  what  was  the  cause  of  the  split  in   the    Democratic 
party? 

b.  Why  was  Lincoln  nominated  ?     Had  you  been  a  member  of  the 
Chicago  Convention,  how  would  you  have  voted? 

c.  Bring  to  class  a  digest  of  the  Republican  platform  of  1860,  and 
discuss  its  principal  features. 

§§  328~332-   SECESSION 

a.  Was  the  South  wholly  wrong  in  the  struggle  which  culminated 
in  secession?     Upon  the  basis  of  a  strict  construction  of  the  Consti 
tution,  did  the   South  demand  more   than   the  Constitution  justified? 
Prove  your  statements. 

b.  Summarize  the   compromise    efforts   of   1 860-61.      If  you   had 
been  in  the  Senate  in  1861,  how  would  you  have  voted  on  the  Crit- 
tenden  Compromise,  and  why? 

c.  Secession:  describe  carefully  the  course  of  South  Carolina;   did 
all  the  cotton  states  actually  secede?     Explain  carefully  the  difference 
of  interests  between  the  cotton  states  and  the  border  states. 

§§  333>  334-  THE  NORTH  AND  THE  SOUTH 

a.  Look  up  and  describe  the  President's  "  war  powers." 

b.  How  do  you  account  for  the  apathy  of  the  Northerners  in  the 


480  Secession 

winter  of  1 860-61?  Explain  conditions  in  the  South  which  made  it 
possible  for  a  small  minority  of  slave  owners  to  dominate  public 
opinion. 

c.  Upon  what  grounds  could  Phillips  base  his  assertion  that 
"Lincoln  has  no  right  to  a  soldier  in  Fort  Sumter"? 

HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

Represent  in  colors  upon  an  Outline  Map:  (i)  free  soil,  (2)  slave 
soil,  (3)  states  which  cast  their  vote  for  Douglas  or  for  Bell,  (4)  states 
which  seceded  before  April,  1861,  (5)  states  which  seceded  after  that 
time. 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

a.  Represent  upon  a  chart  the  origin  and  history  of  political  parties 
from  1824  to  1860. 

b.  What  entries   under  headings  already  in   note-book   must   you 
make?     What  new  headings  does  this  chapter  suggest? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  BY  INDIVIDUAL  STUDENTS 
(See  note  under  this  head  on  p.  48.) 

a.  Tabulate  the  electoral  vote  of  1860,  and  compare  it  with  that  of 
1856  and  of  1896. 

b.  Summarize  Senator  Crittenden's  argument  (473,  last  reference  of 
first  group). 

c.  Compare  Buchanan's  and  Andrew's  messages   (478,  last  refer 
ence). 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1861-1865 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  —  Dodge's  Bird's-Eye  View  of  our  Civil  War 
(should  be  read  by  all  students) ;  Wilson's  Division  and  Reunion, 
216-252;  Johnston's  American  Politics,  197-206. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Ropes's  Story  of  the  Civil  War;  Rhodes's 
United  States ;  Morse's  Lincoln  (S.  S.)  ;  *Stephens's  War  betiveen  the 
States;  *Davis's  Confederate  States;  Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil 
War ;  Swinton's  Twelve  Decisive  Battles ;  Boynton's  The  Navy  dur 
ing  the  Rebellion ;  *Greeley's  American  Conflict ;  Mahan's  Farragut. 
Biographies  of  the  leading  statesmen  and  generals,  Guide,  §  25. 

Sources.  —  American  History  Leaflets ;  Old  South  Leaflets;  John 
ston's  American  Orations;  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln; 
McPherson's  History  of  the  Rebellion;  Grant's  Memoirs;  Sherman's 
Memoirs ;  Moore's  Rebellion  Record.  Writings  of  the  leading  states 
men  and  generals, .  Guide,  §§  32,  33. 

Maps.  —  Dodge's  Bird's-Eye  View. 

Bibliography.  —  Channing  and  Hart,  Guide  to  American  History, 
§§  56 a,  56b  (General  Readings),  §§  208-214  (Topics  and  Refer 
ences). 

Illustrative  Material.  —  Scribner's  Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War; 
Herndon's  Lincoln ;  Thurlow  Weed's  Autobiography ;  McCulloch's 
Men  and  Measures;  Greeley's  Recollections ;  7Yie  Sherman  Letters ; 
Eggleston's  A  Rebel's  Recollections;  Jones's  A  Rebel  War  Clerk's 
Diary ;  Harper's  Pictorial  History;  Garrisons'  Garrison,  Lowell's 
Commemoration  Ode,  Biglow  Papers,  Second  Series,  and  Political 
Essays ;  Whittier's  Anti-slavery  Poems,  Barbara  Frietchie,  etc. ; 
Moore's  Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  Sottthern  People;  Roe's  An  Orig 
inal  Belle  and  other  stories  ;  Coffin's  Winning  his  Way ;  Harris's 
On  the  Plantation;  Page's  Among  the  Camps;  Mitchell's  In  War 
Time  and  Roland  Blake ;  Soley's  Sailor  Boys  of  J6i ;  Stedman's 
Occasional  Poems ;  Cable's  Strange  True  Stories  of  Louisiana  ; 
Cooke's  Hilt  to  Hilt  and  other  stories  ;  Trowbridge's  Drummer  Boy 
and  other  stories;  Hapgood's  Abraham  Lincoln. 

481 


482 


The  Civil  War 


[§334 


Abraham 

Lincoln. 

Morse's 

Lincoln 

(S.  S.)  ; 

Rhodes's 

United 

States,  II, 

308. 


Lincoln's 
first  inaugu 
ral,  1861. 
American 
History 
Leaflets, 
No.  18; 
Johnston's 
Orations, 
IV,  16-31. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1861-1865 

334.  Lincoln's  Policy,  1861. — Abraham  Lincoln  admi 
rably  represented  that  which  was  best  in  American  life. 
Under  every  disadvantage  of  birth  and  breeding,  he  raised 
himself  by  his  own  exertions  to  the  level  of  the  best  statesmen 
of  the  day.  His  sincerity,  his  straightforwardness,  his  keen 
perception  of  right  and  wrong,  were  all  enforced  by  a  sense 
of  humor  and  a  kindliness  of  bearing  that  endeared  him  to 
all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

On  the  fourth  day  of  March,  1861,  Lincoln  entered  upon 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  chief  magistrate  of  the  United 
States.  In  his  inaugural  address  he  stated  the  broad  lines 
of  the  policy  he  intended  to  pursue.  He  began  by  declaring 
that  he  had  "  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  exists.  .  .  . 
I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so."  He  held  that  in  contem 
plation  of  universal  law  and  of  the  Constitution,  the  Union  of 
these  states  is  perpetual,  and  he  maintained  that  "  the  Union 
is  much  older  than  the  Constitution."  It  followed  from  these 
premises,  only  partly  set  forth  above,  "  that  no  state  upon  its 
own  mere  motion  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union ;  that 
resolves  and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are  legally  void. 

"  I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken ;  and  to  the  extent  of  my 
ability  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly 
enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully 
executed  in  all  the  states.  ...  In  doing  this  there  needs 
be  no  bloodshed  or  violence  ;  and  there  shall  be  none,  unless 
it  be  enforced  upon  the  national  authority."  Lincoln  be 
lieved  that  if  the  laws  were  enforced  in  the  South  wherever 
they  could  be  executed  without  resort  to  arms,  and  if  the 
mail  service  were  regularly  carried  on,  the  Southern  people 
would  gradually  come  to  their  senses  and  repeal  the  ordi 
nances  of  secession.  At  all  events,  he  was  determined  that, 
while  there  should  be  no  more  trifling  with  the  idea  of 


1861]  Lincoln  s  Policy  483 

state  sovereignty,  the  Southerners  should  be  the  aggressors 
if  there  must  be  aggression.  He  stated  further,  after  a  con 
sideration  of  secession  from  the  constitutional  standpoint, 
that  he  understood  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion  had  passed  Congress  "  to  the  effect  that  the  Federal 
Government  shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic  institu 
tions  of  the  states,  including  that  of  persons  held  to  service." 
As  to  such  an  amendment  he  declared  that  he  had  "no 
objection  to  its  being  made  express  and  irrevocable.  .  .  . 
In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not 
in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  govern 
ment  will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no  conflict  without 
being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  regis 
tered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  I  shall  have 
the  most  solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it." 

335.  Lincoln's  Advisers.  —  The  new  President  gathered  Lincoln's 
about  him  an  able  set  of  advisers.  His  three  rivals  for  the  cabmet- 
Republican  nomination,  Seward,  Chase,  and  Cameron,  be 
came  the  heads  of  the  State  Department,  the  Treasury,  and 
the  War  Department  respectively.  Seward  maintained  his 
place  during  the  war  ;  but  Chase  was  later  appointed  Chief 
Justice,  and  Cameron  was  displaced  at  the  War  Depart 
ment  in  1862  by  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who  continued  to 
exercise  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War  until  after  the  close 
of  the  conflict.  Gideon  Welles  of  Connecticut  was  made 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  was  ably  seconded  by  Gusta- 
vus  Vasa  Fox,  the  Assistant  Secretary. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  administration,  Lincoln  was  still   Lincoln  and 
unfamiliar  to  those  about  him.     Seward,  Chase,  and  Cam-   Seward- 
eron  had  long  occupied  leading  positions  at  Washington,  and 
no  doubt  felt  somewhat  uneasy  in  the  position  of  advisers  to 
their  successful  rival.     Seward,  at  all  events,  regarded  him 
self  as  the  real  head  of  the  government,  and  proceeded  to 
instruct  Lincoln  as  to  the  policy  to  be  pursued  by  the  ad 
ministration.     The  Secretary  of  State  sketched  out  a  bold 
plan  of  foreign  aggression,  quite  unmindful    of  the    moral 
obligations  of  the  nation.     In  this  way  he  hoped  to  reunite  the 


484 


The  Civil   War 


[§336 


Fall  of  Fort 

Sumter, 

April,  1861. 

Battles  and 

Leaders, 

1,40,83; 

Rhodes's 

United 

States,  III, 

357- 


Lincoln's 
Proclama 
tion. 


two  sections  of  the  Union  by  thrusting  the  slavery  dispute 
to  one  side.  He  also  conferred  with  several  Southerners 
who  styled  themselves  "  Commissioners  from  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  Confederate  States."  Lincoln  quietly  set 
Seward  in  his  proper  place,  and  did  it  in  a  manner  that 
showed  his  own  capacity  to  manage  affairs  and  his  ability  to 
handle  men.  During  the  whole  course  of  the  conflict, 
Lincoln  exercised  personally  the  great  powers  conferred  on 
him  —  although  he  always  asked  the  advice  of  the  cabinet 
on  important  matters. 

336.  Uprising  of  the  People,  April,  1861. — When  Lin 
coln  assumed  charge  of  the  government,  only  three  or  four 
military  posts  in  the  seceded  states  remained  in  federal 
hands.  The  most  important  were  Fort  Pickens,  on  the 
Florida  coast,  and  Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston,  harbor.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  reinforce  the  garrison  of  the  former, 
but  the  officer  in  command  of  the  vessel  containing  the  sol 
diers  refused  to  land  them.  To  hold  Fort  Sumter  in  the 
face  of  the  gathering  opposition  to  the  federal  government 
was  plainly  impossible.  The  administration,  however,  deter 
mined  to  supply  the  garrison  with  provisions,  and  notified 
the  governor  of  South  Carolina  of  its  intention.  On  April 
12  the  Southern  guns  opened  on  the  fort,  which  surren 
dered  April  14.  Not  a  man  had  been  injured,  but  the 
little  garrison  had  been  overcome  by  hunger  and  hard 
ships.  Great  was  the  rejoicing  at  Charleston  ;  at  last  the  flag 
of  the  United  States  had  been  "  humbled  before  the  glorious 
little  state  of  South  Carolina,"  said  the  governor  of  that 
state. 

The  next  day,  April  15,  1861,  President  Lincoln  issued 
a  proclamation  calling  for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers. 
The  document  was  most  admirably  written,  as  were  all  of 
Lincoln's  state  papers,  and  contains  the  best  statement  of 
the  points  in  dispute  from  a  Northern  standpoint. 

"The  laws  of  the  United  States,"  said  the  President, 
"  have  been  for  some  time  past,  and  now  are  opposed,  and 
the  execution  thereof  obstructed,  in  the  states  of  South 


1861]  Uprising  of  the  People  485 

Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
and  Texas,  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed 
by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings. 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  by  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  have  thought  fit  to  call  forth,  and 
hereby  do  call  forth,  the  militia  of  the  several  states  of  the 
Union  to  the  aggregate  number  of  seventy-five  thousand,  in 
order  to  suppress  said  combinations,  and  to  cause  the  laws 

to  be  duly  executed. 

******* 

"  And  I  hereby  command  the  persons  composing  the  said 
combinations  aforesaid  to  disperse  and  retire  peaceably  to 
their  respective  abodes,  within  twenty  days  from  this  date." 

Now  at  once  appeared  the  results  of  Southern  blunders.   Rising  of  the 
By  their  own  acts,  they  had  ^Ort7h- 

r  mA     IT)  Iff  CM  HIA    ITI1I0I     Battles  and 

transferred  the  contest  from    Til  AlUUu!          1U  AlUHll!    Leaders, 
the  slavery  question,  upon  t7AT  TTWPFINICf          I>84' 

which  the  Northerners  were  Y  UiiU  W  1  Hl£lHD  • 

rthTSer^r    TO  *  ™«  '  •*»  &•»« 

Union,  upon  which  the 
Northern  people  were  of 
one  mind.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  men  in  the 
North  and  in  the  "border 
states"  cared  nothing  for 
the  struggle  over  slavery. 
They  saw  no  reason  why 
a  Southerner  should  not 
carry  his  slaves  where  he 
wished  without  danger  of 

losing  them.  The  instant  that  the  Southerners  under 
another  flag  attacked  the  United  States,  their  sympathies 
changed.  Even  the  leading  Northern  Democrats  could 
not  bear  this  insult  to  the  Union  government.  The  Demo 
cratic  ex- Presidents  Franklin  Pierce  and  James  Buchanan 


486  The  Civil  War  [§  337 

"  came  out  for  the  Union,"  and  Douglas  promised  Lincoln  his 
heartiest  support.  These  facts,  telegraphed  throughout  the 
country,  turned  many  a  doubting  mind.  Nobly  Douglas  re 
deemed  his  pledge  :  the  remaining  weeks  of  his  life  he 
traveled  through  the  Northwest,  arousing  by  his  eloquence 
the  people  there  to  rally  to  the  support  of  the  Union. 
Rising  of  In  the  South,  even  greater  unanimity  was  displayed.  The 

the  South.  federal  government  at  last  was  about  to  coerce  a  state,  and 
to  the  Southerners'  minds,  filled  with  the  doctrines  of  Cal- 
houn,  this  seemed  to  be  an  attack  on  the  rights  of  self- 
government  dear  to  every  man  of  English  blood./ 

The  "Border  337.  The  "Border  States,"  1861.  —  Between  the  free 
states,"  1861.  states  of  the  North  and  the  slave  states  of  the  cotton  belt 
which  had  already  seceded  (p.  473),  there  stretched  two 
tiers  of  slave  states,  the  more  southern  of  which  —  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas  —  soon  cast  in 
their  lot  with  secession  (April  to  May,  1861).  Only  one  of 
the  border  slave  states,  Delaware,  unreservedly  joined  the 
North.  In  two  others,  Maryland  and  Kentucky,  the  politi 
cians  endeavored  to  set  on  foot  a  policy  of  neutrality  which 
would  have  been  very  advantageous  to  the  South ;  but  the 
Union  men  were  strong  in  both  of  them,  and  with  encourage 
ment  from  the  government  managed  to  maintain  their  states 
on  the  side  of  the  North.  The  people  of  western  Virginia 
had  no  sympathy  with  the  secessionists  of  the  eastern  part 
of  that  state  ;  they  held  a  convention  of  their  own  and,  with 
the  help  of  a  small  federal  army,  seceded  from  Virginia,  and 
later  on  (1863)  were  admitted  to  the  Union  as  the  state  of 
West  Virginia,  although  not  without  straining  a  point  of  con 
stitutional  interpretation. 

Missouri.  In  Missouri,  the  contest  was  for  some  time  doubtful :  the 

old  native  element  was  strongly  in  favor  of  secession,  but  a 
large  body  of  more  recent  comers,  mainly  Germans,  were 
as  heartily  in  favor  of  the  Union  cause.  Fortunately,  there 
were  two  men  in  the  state  able  and  willing  to  use  whatever 
power  they  had  for  the  Union.  These  were  Francis  P.  Blair 
and  Captain  Nathaniel  Lyon,  the  commander  of  the  United 


1 86 1]  Strength  of  North  and  South  487 

States  arsenal  at  St.  Louis.  They  acted  with  such  prompti 
tude  and  with  so  much  skill  that  the  state  was  saved  for  the 
Union,  although  not  without  a  prolonged  struggle  in  which 
Lyon  lost  his  life.  It  was  not,  however,  until  after  the  defeat 
of  the  Confederates  at  Pea  Ridge  in  March,  1862,  that  the 
question  of  the  control  of  the  state  was  definitely  settled  in 
favor  of  the  North. 

338.    Military  Strength  of  the  North  and  South. — The  strength  oi 

preservation  of  the  northern  border  states  to  the  cause  of   the  com- 

. ..,        ,,.      .    .     r  batants. 

freedom  and  union,  and  the  secession  of  West  Virginia  from 

Virginia,  reduced  the  area  to  be  conquered,  and  greatly 
weakened  the  power  of  those  in  rebellion  against  the  fed 
eral  authorities.  The  slave  states,  all  told,  contained  twelve 
million  inhabitants ;  the  states  which  seceded  contained  less 
than  nine  millions.  Of  these  only  five  and  one  half  millions 
were  whites,  in  comparison  with  a  white  population  in  the 
loyal  states  of  twenty-two  millions.  There  were  but  two 
million  eight  hundred  thousand  adult  white  males  in  the 
Confederate  states,  and  the  federal  government  had  on  its 
muster  rolls  more  than  one  million  men  in  May,  1865.  How, 
then,  did  it  happen  that  the  secessionists  were  not  crushed 
at  the  outset?  Why  did  the  contest  endure  for  four 
years  ? 

In  the  first  place,  the  whole  population  of  the  seceded    Policy  of  the 
states  was  utilized   for  war.     The    able-bodied   men   were   Southern 

.    .          government, 

forced  into  the  ranks  at  first  by  the  violence  of  public  opinion 
and  later  by  a  merciless  conscription  law.  The  old  men,  the 
women,  and  the  children  remained  at  home  with  the  bulk 
of  the  slaves,  and  bent  all  their  energies  to  providing  the 
soldiers  with  food  and  supplies.  But  as  the  men  were  killed 
or  kept  in  Northern  prisons,  there  were  no  more  to  take 
their  places  in  the  fighting  line.  As  state  after  state  was  con 
quered,  the  resources  of  the  Confederate  government  visibly 
diminished,  and  as  the  blockade  became  more  effective,  the 
supplies  of  the  necessities  of  modern  warfare  failed.  The 
Southerners  over-exerted  themselves  at  the  outset ;  in  the 
beginning  they  presented  a  stern  front  to  "  the  invader  "  j 


488 


The  Civil  War 


[§  339 


Policy  of  the 

Northern 

government. 


Strength  of 
the  contend 
ing  armies. 
Dodge's 
View, 
116-121, 
.322-324. 


in  the  end  they  collapsed  as  no  other  conquered  people 
have  done  in  modern  times. 

Far  otherwise  was  it  with  the  Northerners.  Unused  to 
arms  but  more  accustomed  to  the  management  of  great 
business  enterprises,  the  Northern  statesmen,  when  the  de 
parture  of  the  Southerners  from  Congress  finally  gave  them 
the  control  of  the  government,  set  about  conquering  the 
seceders  with  one  hand,  while  they  built  up  the  industries 
of  the  North  with  the  other.  Long  lines  of  new  railroads 
opened  up  vast  regions  to  settlement,  a  most  liberal  home 
stead  law  attracted  migration  to  these  new  lands,  and  a  high 
protective  tariff  enormously  stimulated  manufacturing  enter 
prises.  The  North  grew  stronger  in  resources  every  year ; 
every  year  there  was  a  greater  population  from  which  to 
recruit  the  armies  ;  every  year  there  was  a  greater  fund  from 
which  to  draw  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  war.  The 
North  was  immeasurably  better  equipped  for  battle  in  1865 
than  in  1861  ;  but  this  vast  industrial  expansion  absorbed 
the  energies  of  a  large  portion  of  the  adult  male  population. 

339.  Numbers.  —  Colonel  Theodore  Ayrault  Dodge,  in  the 
concluding  chapter  of  his  very  interesting  sketch  of  the  Civil 
War,  gives  some  statistics  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
Union  soldiers  were  always  more  numerous  than  their  oppo 
nents —  at  least  on  paper.  For  example,  on  the  first  day 
of  July,  1 86 1,  the  Union  armies  numbered  one  hundred  and 
eighty-six  thousand  soldiers  to  some  one  hundred  thousand 
on  the  other  side.  The  Confederate  soldiers  in  January, 
1864,  numbered  nearly  five  hundred  thousand.  At  that 
time  there  were  about  eight  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
on  the  rolls  of  the  Union  army.  Thenceforward  the  su 
periority  of  the  Unionists  constantly  increased  until  in 
January,  1865,  they  outnumbered  the  secessionists  two  to 
one.  As  will  be  seen  later  on,  whenever  the  figures  are 
given,  it  will  be  found  that  the  Union  soldiers  taking  part 
in  any  one  campaign  or  battle  outnumbered  the  Southerners, 
and  this  was  the  case  in  other  engagements  which  are  not 
recorded  here  or  whose  numbers  are  not  given.  It  is  true, 


i86i]  Strength  of  North  and  South  489 

therefore,  that  according  to  the  only  records  that  are  pre 
served,  the  Northern  soldiers  outnumbered  their  opponents 
whether  taken  as  a  whole,  or  considered  in  portions  by 
campaigns  or  battles.  There  are  few  things,  however,  so 
unreliable  as  statistics,  and  these  figures  especially  must 
always  be  regarded  with  the  greatest  caution.  The  Union 
soldiers  performed  many  services  which  in  the  Southern 
armies  were  discharged  by  slaves  or  not  at  all.  For  ex 
ample,  the  Northern  soldiers  drove  the  supply  trains,  acted 
as  servants,  and  constructed  defensive  works,  all  of  which 
duties  were  performed  by  negroes  for  the  Southerners.  It 
probably  would  not  be  far  from  the  truth  to  say  that,  until 
the  last  year  of  the  war,  the  number  of  soldiers  actually 
equipped  and  ready  to  take  their  places  in  the  fighting 
line  was  about  the  same  on  both  sides.  The  Confederates, 
also,  by  reason  of  their  better  knowledge  of  the  country, 
their  superior  marching  qualities,  and  their  shorter  interior 
lines,  were  able  to  reinforce  their  armies  at  the  most  im 
portant  points  with  greater  ease  and  speed  than  the  Union 
authorities  could.  It  was  not  until  1864  that  the  Union 
forces  were  really  superior  in  numbers  at  all  points. 

340.  Northern  Finances,  1861-65.  —  During  the  clos-  Northern 
ing  months  of  Buchanan's  administration  the  federal  govern-  fi"f nces> 
ment  had  become  nearly  bankrupt  and  had  been  able  to 
fulfill  its  obligations  only  by  means  of  loans  at  very  high 
rates  of  interest.  No  sooner  was  the  war  begun  than  great 
pressure  was  felt  not  only  by  the  general  government  but 
by  the  state  governments,  the  municipalities,  and  financial 
institutions  in  general.  Before  the  close  of  1861  the  banks 
everywhere  suspended  specie  payments.  Temporary  ex 
pedients  tided  the  government  over  the  first  months  of  the 
war.  Congress  assembled  on  July  4,  1861.  It  at  once 
authorized  a  loan  and  raised  the  import  duties.  The  Mor- 
rill  Tariff  (p.  465),  passed  in  1860,  before  the  war  was 
thought  of,  became  the  basis  of  new  taxation,  and  from  this 
time  until  the  close  of  the  conflict,  not  a  session  of  Con 
gress  went  by  without  some  increase  of  the  duties  on  im- 


490 


The  Civil   War 


[§34o 


ports.  The  most  important  of  these  measures  will  be  noted 
later.  In  February,  1862,  Congress  authorized  the  issue 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dpllars  of  paper  money 
and  made  them  legal  tender  in  payment  of  debts.  Before 
the  end  of  1863,  the  amount  was  increased  to  four  hundred 
and  fifty  millions.  The  premium  on  gold  at  once  began  to 
rise ;  in  1863  it  reached  one  hundred  and  seventy  per  cent, 
and  in  1864  touched  ,the  highest  mark,  two  hundred  and 
eighty-five  per  cent.  Prices  and  rents,  of  course,  at  once  rose,, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  contest  were  nearly  ninety  per  cent 


*>  ^     ~*  ^^,  ^          ./ 


Tt  i s  hereby  err/ ijrf 

|1|  Have  been  deposited  -with  the  Treasurer  of  the  United^  S  tales    -,.3'c^l. 


higher  than  in  1861.  Wages  and  salaries  rose  also,  but  not 
in  a  corresponding  degree  —  not  more  than  sixty  per  cent. 
From  these  facts  it  can  easily  be  seen  that  the  real  cost  of 
the  war  fell  most  heavily  on  the  poorer  classes  —  on  those 
who  had  nothing  to  sell  save  their  labor.  This,  indeed,  is 
the  invariable  effect  produced  by  inflation  of  the  currency 
medium.  Another  source  of  funds  to  which  the  govern 
ment  had  frequent  recourse  was  the  issue  of  bonds  at  high 
rates  of  interest  to  be  paid  for  in  the  government's  own 
depreciated  currency.  In  all?  the  government  incurred  a. 


1861]  The  National  Banking  System  491 

debt  of  the  face  value  of  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  dollars,  or,  including  the  outstanding  paper 
currency  or  greenbacks,  over  three  billion  dollars. 

341.  The  National  Banking  System. — As   the   contest   National 
deepened,  it  became  more  and  more  difficult  to  sell  these   banks- 
bonds,  no  matter  what  the  rate  of  interest  or  the  amount  of 
depreciation  of  the  currency  which  could  be  paid  for  them ; 

the  people  had  so  little  confidence  in  the  stability  of 
the  government  that  they  were  not  willing  to  lend  money 
on  any  terms.  Subscriptions  to  bonds  fell  off  and  a  new 
expedient  to  dispose  of  them  was  invented.  This  was  the 
national  banking  system,  based  on  the  New  York  state 
banking  system.  The  first  law  on  the  subject  was  passed 
in  February,  1863,  and  provided  that  any  five  or  more 
persons  with  a  minimum  capital  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  —  in  very  small  places  even  less  —  might  organize 
a  national  bank  on  depositing  with  the  government  United 
States  bonds  to  the  amount  of  one  third  of  their  capital. 
In  exchange  for  these  bonds,  the  government  issued  to  the 
depositing  bank  notes  redeemable  in  greenbacks  to  the 
amount  of  ninety  per  cent  of  the  value  of  the  bonds  de 
posited.  A  market  for  the  bonds  of  the  United  States 
would  be  thus  obtained,  and  a  stable  currency  provided 
for  the  country.  At  first  the  response  to  this  offer  was 
not  encouraging,  but  in  March,  1864,  Congress  laid  a  tax 
of  ten  per  cent  on  the  circulation  of  the  state  banks,  and 
they  at  once  complied  with  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
1863  and  became  national  banks,  v 

342.  Increased  Taxation.  —  Irredeemable  paper  currency   Taxation, 
and  bonds,  even  when  helped  by  the  national  bank  act, 

did  not  meet  the  needs  of  the  government.  In  1862  the 
source  of  revenue  which  had  been  discarded  by  Jefferson 
was  again  brought  into  use  :  by  the  Internal  Revenue  Act 
of  that  year  Congress  established  a  comprehensive  scheme 
of  excise  taxation :  specific  taxes  were  imposed  on  the 
production  of  iron  and  steel,  coal  oil,  paper,  leather,  and 
countless  other  manufactured  articles,  and  a  general  ad 


492 


The   Civil   War 


[§343 


Southern 
finances, 
1861-65. 


CONFEDERATE  STATES 

ALMANAC 

FOR  THE  YEAU  OF  OUR  WttD 

1864 

BE1NO  BISSEXTILE,  OR  LEA?  YEAR,    AKD  TffK  «rs  -TUJk 

OP  THE  INDEPENDENCE  OF  THR  COKTIDEXAni 

STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


valorem  tax  on  all  manufactures  not  included  in  this  cate 
gory  ;  licenses  were  required  in  many  callings,  and  a  general 
income  tax  was  imposed ;.  and  steamboat,  railroad,  and 
express  companies  were  also  required  to  pay  taxes  on  their 
gross  receipts.,  Such  a  system  of  heavy  taxes  on  goods 
manufactured  in  -the  country  would  have  destroyed  the 
protective  nature  of  the  tariff;  it  was  necessary,  therefore, 
to  raise  the  duties  levied  on  imports  correspondingly.  In 

1864  the  internal  revenue 
system  was  enormously  ex 
tended,  and  in  connection 
with  it  another  tariff  act  was 
passed  which  raised  the  duties 
on  the  protected  articles  out 
of  all  proportion  to  the  new 
internal  revenue  taxes,  The 
last  act  was  passed  after  only 
five  days'  discussion,  owing 
to  the  pressure  of  urgent 
need.  It  substantially  re 
mained  in  force  for  twenty 
years,  although  the  high  in 
ternal  taxes  which  justified 
the  high  rates  on  protected 
goods  were,  meantime,  largely 
lowered  or  entirely  abolished. 
343.  Southern  Finances,  1861-65.  —  The  ever-strength 
ening  flood  of  industry  in  the  North  made  it  possible  to 
raise  large  amounts  by  taxation,  and,  in  combination  with 
the  success  of  the  Northern  armies  after  1863,  gave  a  basis 
for  credit  upon  which  to  float  large  issues  of  bonds.  The 
South  had  no  similar  resources.  There  was  slight  commer 
cial  activity  in  the  seceded  states  during  peaceful  times,  and 
almost  no  industry  save  the  cultivation  and  exportation  of 
large  crops  of  cotton  and  tobacco.  The  Northern  blockade 
of  Southern  ports  effectually  stopped  this  export  trade,  and 
put  an  end  to  the  inflow  of  goods  needed  in  everyday  life. 


CALCULATIONS   MADB  A* 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ALABAMA. 


BURKE.  BOYKIN  &  CO. 

MACON,  OA. 


J.  McPHERSON  &  CO., 

ATLANTA,  OA. 


1861]  Southern  Finances  493 

The  Southern  government  was  unable  to  raise  any  large 
amounts  of  revenue  by  taxation ;  it  necessarily  had  resort 
to  loans  and  to  irredeemable  paper  money.  The  bonds 
were  issued  at  ruinous  rates  of  interest ;  but  no  rates  of 
interest  could  procure  buyers  in  a  country  where  there  was 
no  capital  seeking  investment.  This  source  of  income  was 
soon  exhausted,  and  the  Confederate  .government  began 
the  issue  of  treasury  notes,  redeemable  six  months  "  after 
the  close  of  the  war."  Before  long,  as  the  Union  armies 
seized  state  after  state,  these  notes  depreciated.  Then  the 
Confederate  Congress  authorized  the  seizure  of  food  for  the 
army  at  rates  to  be  fixed  every  sixty  days ;  these  supplies 
were  paid  for  in  bonds  or  treasury  notes.  As  the  war  pro 
gressed,  the  depreciation  of  the  treasury  notes  made  them 
almost  worthless.  Wages  and  salaries  rose  slowly,  but  not 
at  all  in  proportion  to  the  rise  in  the  prices  of  food  and 
clothing.  The  sufferings  of  those  Southerners  who  neither 
lived  on  their  plantations  nor  served  in  the  armies  are 
almost  beyond  description.  Nothing  contributed  more  to 
bring  about  this  wrecking  of  the  life  of  the  Southern  people 
than  the  closure  of  their  ports  by  the  Northern  cruisers. 

344.   The  Blockade.  —  On  April  19,  1861,  President  Lin-  The 
coin  proclaimed  a  blockade  of  the  ports  of  the  seceded 
states.     At  the  moment,  there  were  few  vessels  available  for 
the  patrol  of  the  three  thousand  miles  of  Confederate  sea-   ch.  viii. 
board.     Before  long,  gunboats  were  improvised  from  coast 
ing  steamers,  and  even  ferryboats  were   pressed    into    the 
service,  while  new  war  ships  were  built  as  rapidly  as  Northern 
shipyards   could  turn  them   out.     Soon,  the   federal  forces 
occupied   important   seaports,  as    New   Orleans,  and   long 
stretches  of  coast,  as  the  sounds  of  North  Carolina.     Month   Mobile, 
by  month  the  blockade  became  stricter  and  stricter,  until   Maclay's 

Navy,  II, 

finally,  after  the  fall  of  Mobile  in  1864,  Wilmington,  North  445_5'o4.' 
Carolina,  was   the  only  port  accessible   in  any  degree  to 
blockade  runners.    These  were  mostly  British  vessels,  owned 
and  manned  by  British  men.    The  blockade  runners  took  on 
board  their  cargoes  at  Nassau,  New  Providence,  one  of  the 


494  The   Ci™1    War  ^§344 

Bahama  Islands.  The  goods  were  brought  to  that  place 
from  Great  Britain  in  ordinary  merchant  vessels.  The  story 
of  many  of  these  blockading  vessels  and  of  their  fearless 
commanders  iSNnost  thrilling,  and  shows  to  what  extent  men 
will  peril  their  lives  for  gain.  As  the  blockade  became 
harder  and  harder  to  evade,  the  profits  of  the  successful 
blockade  runner  grew  larger.  In  the  last  year  of  the  war, 
insurance  on  the  vessels  rose  nine  hundred  per  cent  over 
the  rates  of  1861,  and  captains'  wages  increased  from  thirty 
pounds  to  one  thousand  pounds  sterling  per  month. 
Effects  of  the  Blockade  running,  however  romantic  its  story  may  be, 

blockade  on    was  a  pure}y  business  venture.     Rates  of  freight  were  enor- 
the  South.  ,.  „. 

mous,  —  one  hundred  pounds  sterling  per  ton.     Of  course 

useful,  but  bulky  and  cheap,  goods  could  not  be  carried  at 
this  figure.  The  blockade  runner's  cargo  consisted  of  small 
expensive  articles,  whose  importation  worked  harm  to  the 
Confederacy.  The  Southern  government  endeavored  to 
prevent  this  by  forbidding  the  importation  of  luxuries,  by 
fixing  a  maximum  price  on  certain  articles,  and  by  reserving 
for  its  own  use  one  half  of  the  freight  space  on  every 
blockade  runner,  at  less  than  the  ruling  rates  of  freight. 
These  measures  reduced  the  profits  of  blockade  running, 
decreased  the  number  of  vessels  in  that  dangerous  business, 
and  thus  greatly  assisted  the  Northern  government  in  its 
endeavor  to  cut  off  the  people  of  the  Southern  states  from 
intercourse  with  the  outer  world.  A  few  examples  will  serve 
to  show  how  well  the  Union  government  succeeded  in  that 
endeavor.  In  1860  two  hundred  million  dollars'  worth  of 
cotton  was  exported;  in  1863  four  million  dollars' worth ; 
toward  the  end  of  1864,  a  pound  of  Sea  Island  cotton  could 
be  bought  for  four  cents  at  Charleston  and  sold  for  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  at  Liverpool.  A  ton  of  salt  could  be 
bought  at  Nassau  for  seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  and  sold 
at  Richmond  for  seventeen  hundred  dollars  in  gold ;  a  ton 
of  coffee  cost  two  hundred  and.  forty  dollars  at  Nassau,  and 
five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  gold  at  Richmond; 
finally,  a  bottle  of  brandy  could  be  obtained  at  Liverpool 


1861]  Characteristics  of  the  Conflict  495 

for  seventy-five    cents,  and  sold    for  twenty-five  dollars  in 
gold  at  Richmond. 

345.  Characteristics  of  the  Conflict  — The  war  was  mainly  Topography 
defensive  on  the  side  of  the  seceders,  offensive  on  that  of  the  of  the  theatel 
Union  soldiers.  It  is  true  that  Southern  armies  occasionally 
invaded  the  loyal  states ;  but  they  never  advanced  far,  and 
were  soon  obliged  to  retire.  The  Northerners,  on  the  other 
hand,  undertook  the  conquest  of  the  South  and  therefore 
were  the  attackers.  Most  writers  on  the  art  of  war  agree 
that  defensive  is  easier  than  offensive  warfare.  Other  writ 
ers  are  inclined  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  this  view,  or,  at  all 
events,  to  maintain  that  the  matter  has  been  greatly  over 
stated.  They  argue,  for  instance,  that  the  invader  can  to  a 
great  extent  choose  his  own  time  and  place ;  he  also  can 
concentrate,  while  the  defender  is  obliged  to  maintain  many 
posts  and  be  prepared  to  dispute  several  roads  and  passes 
by  which  the  attacker  can  penetrate  into  the  heart  of 
the  attacked  country.  In  the  Civil  War,  whatever  the  case 
may  have  been  as  to  other  wars,  the  advantage  lay  very 
greatly  on  the  side  of  the  defenders.  The  Alleghany  Moun 
tains  and  the  Mississippi  River  cut  the  theater  of  war  into 
three  great  sections ;  deep  and  numerous  streams  flowing 
eastward  and  westward  from  the  Alleghanies  constantly 
impeded  the  march  of  the  Northern  armies.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  conquest  of  the  states  between  the  Alleghanies  and 
the  Mississippi  would  have  been  vastly  more  difficult  had  it 
not  been  for  the  water  communication  afforded  by  many  of 
these  streams,  which  was  utilized  to  the  utmost.  Overland 
marching,  however,  was  very  difficult  in  the  South  :  the  rail 
roads  were  few  in  number,  but  they  were  always  repaired 
and  used  to  the  fullest  extent.  The  land  itself  was  thinly 
settled,  and  frequently  covered  by  vast  forests  through 
which  led  poor  "  dirt "  roads,  impassable  for  artillery  and 
army  trains  in  wet  weather.  These  stretches  of  wilderness 
were  penetrated  by  numberless  unused  roads  known  only 
to  the  few  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity,  whose  sympathies 
were  almost  entirely  on  the  side  of  the  Southerners.  These 


496  The   Civil   War  [§  346 

conditions  were  in  favor  of  the  defenders  throughout  the 
South,  but  more  especially  in  the  region  fought  over  by  the 
armies  defending  the  political  capitals  of  the  combatants,  — 
Washington  on  the  Potomac  and  Richmond  on  the  James. 
The  Northern  armies  were  probably  better  fed,  clothed, 
and  equipped  than  any  army  had  been  before  1860.  Their 
very  wealth  hindered  their  movements  in  a  region  so  poorly 
provided  with  roads  as  the  South.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Southern  soldiers  seldom  had  much  in  the  way  of  clothing  or 
food  to  delay  their  movements.  It  was  not  until  1864  that 
the  two  armies  can  be  said  to  have  been  on  a  footing  of 
equality  in  this  regard,  and  this  was  then  gained  by  cutting 
down  the  impedimenta  of  the  Northern  armies  to  the  smallest 
possible  point  consistent  with  continued  efficiency. 
Defense  of  346.  Defense  of  Washington,  1861.  —  Lincoln's  procla- 
Washmgton.  matjon  caiiing  for  troops  was  issued  on  April  15  ;  three 
days  later  a  body  of  Pennsylvania  militia  reached  Washington 
—  most  of  them  without  arms.  The  next  day,  April  19, 
1 86 1,  —  the  anniversary  of  Lexington  and  Concord,  —  the 
Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  hurrying  to  the  protection  of 
the  capital,  was  attacked  by  a  mob  while  marching  through 
the  streets  of  Baltimore,  and  several  men  were  killed  and 
wounded.  Other  troops  made  their  way  to  Washington 
through  Annapolis.  Soon  their  numbers  became  so  formi 
dable  that  the  disloyal  element  in  Maryland  was  overawed, 
and  the  route  through  Baltimore  permanently  secured. 

For  four  years  Virginia  was  the  battle  ground  of  the  two 
armies,  —  the  one,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  defending 
Washington,  and  endeavoring  to  conquer  Virginia  and  to 
capture  Richmond ;  the  other,  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia,  endeavoring  to  defend  Virginia  and  Richmond,  to 
attack  Washington,  and  to  invade  Maryland  and  Penn 
sylvania.  The  scene  of  the  conflict  in  the  East  was  mainly 
in  Virginia,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  topography  of  that 
state  is  essential  to  an  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the 
contest  and  the  difficult  task  which  taxed  the  resources  of 
the  invading  army. 


1861]  Theater  of  War  in    Virginia  497 

347.  Theater  of  War  in  Virginia.  —  Parallel  to  the  Alle-  Topography 
ghany  system,  and  east  of  it,  rises  a  lower  mountain  range  of  VirSlnia- 
known  as  the  Blue  Ridge.  Between  it  and  the  mass  of 
the  Alleghanies  flows  the  Shenandoah  River.  Its  course  is 
generally  northward,  and  it  joins  the  Potomac  at  Harper's 
Ferry.  The  northern  part  of  the  valley  is  again  divided 
into  two  valleys  by  a  mountain  mass  through  which  a  few 
roads  run.  This  peculiar  shape  of  the  Shenandoah  valley 
made  it  possible  for  a  body  of  troops  to  defend  itself  against 
double  or  treble  its  own  number,  since,  instead  of  retreating 
southward,  it  could  retire  northward  around  the  other  side 
of  the  mountain,  as  one  boy  sometimes  escapes  another  by 
running  around  a  table.  In  this  case,  the  Confederate,  by 
retreating,  might  really  place  himself  nearer  Washington  than 
he  was  in  the  beginning.  Harper's  Ferry  was  commanded 
by  the  mountains  surrounding  it,  and  could  be  defended 
only  by  a  very  large  force  perched  on  these  heights.  The 
Potomac  forms  the  northern  boundary  of  Virginia,  which  is 
intersected  by  numerous  large  rivers  having  their  sources  in 
the  Blue  Ridge,  and  flowing  parallel  to  the  Potomac  in  a 
general  easterly  direction.  The  most  northerly  of  these 
subsidiary  streams  is  the  Rappahannock,  which  at  several 
places,  as  at  Fredericksburg,  approaches  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  Potomac.  The  main  branch  of  the  Rappahan 
nock  is  the  Rapidan.  South  of  these  rivers,  not  far  from 
their  confluence,  is  a  stretch  of  sparsely  settled  country  known 
as  the  Wilderness  ;  it  contains  several  hamlets,  among  others, 
Spottsylvania  and  Chancellorsville.  Another  important  stream 
is  the  York,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Mattapony  and 
Pamunkey.  To  the  southward  is  the  James,  on  which  Rich 
mond  is  situated.  Between  the  York  and  the  James  flows 
the  Chickahominy,  which  empties  into  the  James.  Another 
important  branch  of  the  latter  stream,  for  the  student  of 
these  campaigns,  is  the  Appomattox.  It  flows  into  the 
James  to  the  northward  of  Petersburg,  which  stands  on  ris 
ing  ground  some  little  distance  back  from  the  latter  river, 
and  to  the  south  of  it. 


498 


The  Civil  War 


[§348 


First  battle 
of  Bull  Run, 
July,  1861. 
Battles  and 
Leaders,  I, 
167; 

Dodge's 
View,  ch.  iv. 


Railroads  were  not  plentiful  in  Virginia.  There  was  one 
line,  however,  which  ran  southward  from  the  Potomac,  nearly 
parallel  to  the  Blue  Ridge ;  at  Manassas  Junction,  near  a 
little  stream  called  Bull  Run,  a  branch  joined  it  from  the 
west,  which  communicated  with  the  Shenandoah  valley 
through  Manassas  Gap.  There  were  of  course  many  sub 
ordinate  rivers  and  mountains,  as  well  as  "  gaps  "  or  passes, 
which  are  not  mentioned  here ;  there  were  also  other  rail 
roads.  The  most  important  have  been  noted,  and  enough 
information  given  to  enable  the  student  to  understand  the 
strategy  of  the  Virginia  campaigns. 

348.  The  Bull  Run  Campaign,  1861.  —  The  first  object  of 
the  Union  government  was  the  defense  of  Washington ;  this 
required  the  possession  of  the  Shenandoah  valley  and  of  the 
line  of  the  Rappahannock.  The  Confederates  hoped  to  pre 
vent  the  former  and  to  push  the  Union  soldiers  back  to  the 
Potomac.  The  control  of  the  Manassas  Gap  Railroad  was 
of  supreme  importance  to  both  combatants,  as  its  possessor 
would  be  able  to  reinforce  his  troops  in  the  valley  or  on  the 
Rappahannock  with  ease  and  speed.  Manassas  Junction, 
where  this  railroad  joined  the  line  from  Washington  to 
Lynchburg,  was  the  key  to  the  situation.  McDowell,  the 
Union  commander,  advanced  southward  from  Washington 
to  drive  the  Southerners  back  from  the  Manassas  Gap  Rail 
road  ;  General  Patterson,  with  another  force,  advanced  up 
the  valley  to  prevent  the  Confederates  there  from  going 
to  the  aid  of  their  comrades  at  Manassas  Junction.  At 
the  critical  moment  Patterson  did  not  attack,  and  set  free 
his  opponent,  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  put  his  men  on  the 
railroad  cars  and  transported  them  to  Bull  Run.  This 
stream,  a  branch  of  the  Potomac,  protected  the  Con 
federate  front.  McDowell  attacked  vigorously,  and  for  a 
time  the  Union  soldiers  had  the  best  of  the  fight  and  vic 
tory  seemed  certain.  Then  the  Union  troops  were  divided 
and  thrust  back.  They  became  panic-stricken  and  fled  to 
Washington  (July  21,  1861).  The  lessons  to  be  learned 
from  this  defeat  were  plain  enough,  —  there  was  nothing 


1 86 1]  The  Bull  Run  Campaign  499 

which  could  not  be  repaired.  The  resolve  of  the  North  Johnston's 
only  became  sterner  and  their  efforts  stronger  because  of  it.  Orations, 
General  George  B.  McClellan,  who  had  already  won  several 
small  victories  in  West  Virginia,  assumed  command.  Mean 
time  Congress  had  assembled.  The  President  asked  for 
authority  to  raise  four  hundred  thousand  men ;  Congress 
voted  five  hundred  thousand.  The  President  asked  for  four 
hundred  million  dollars ;  Congress  authorized  a  loan  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  millions,  and  began  that  process  of  increas 
ing  the  taxes  which  has  already  been  noted  (p.  490) .  Vol 
unteers  poured  in  to  the  defense  of  Washington.  McClellan 
proved  to  be  a  great  drillmaster,  and  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  emerged  from  its  winter  quarters  a  thoroughly  disciplined 
body  of  troops.  The  victory  at  Bull  Run,  on  the  other  hand, 
had  disorganized  the  Confederate  army.  "Our  troops,"  wrote 
Johnston,  "  believed  the  war  ended  .  .  .  and  left  the  army 
in  crowds  to  return  to  their  homes." 

349.  The  Contest  in  the  West,  April,  1861,  to  February,    Topography 
1862.  — Meantime,  west  of  the  Alleghanies  events  had  been   of  the  West< 
progressing  more  favorably  for  the  Union  cause.     At  first 
sight,  these  Western  campaigns  seem  singularly  disjointed 
and  difficult  to  comprehend.     A  brief  study  of  the  topog 
raphy  of  that  section  will  greatly  help  to  make  the  cam 
paigns  of  1861-63  clearer. 

The  region  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi, 
extending  from  the  Ohio  to  the  sources  of  the  Tombigby 
and  other  rivers  flowing  southward  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
is  marked  by  several  rivers  having  a  general  westerly  direc 
tion,  at  least  through  a  large  part  of  their  respective  courses, 
all  flowing  eventually  into  the  Mississippi.  The  most  north 
erly  of  these  rivers  is  the  Ohio,  forming  the  northern  bound 
ary  of  Kentucky,  and  the  dividing  line  between  slavery  and 
freedom  in  that  part  of  the  United  States.  Before  reaching 
the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio  turns  sharply  to  the  south.  Cairo, 
the  town  which  marks  the  junction  of  these  two  great 
streams,  is  situated  farther  south  than  Richmond,  the  chief 
political  capital  of  the  Confederacy.  At  almost  the  extreme 


5oo 


The  Civil   War 


[§349 


southern  point  reached  by  the  Ohio,  two  important  rivers 
join  it  from  the  south,  —  the  Cumberland  and  the  Tennes 
see.  The  former,  rising  to  the  west  of  Cumberland  Gap, 
flows  first  southwest wardly,  then  westwardly,  and  turning 
sharply  to  the  north,  empties  into  the  Ohio.  The  Tennes 
see,  rising  to  the  east  of  Cumberland  Gap,  flows  in  the  same 


Principal  rivers  and  railroads  of  the  South 

general  directions  as  the  Cumberland  —  its  southern  bend 
lying  far  to  the  south,  and  its  northward  course  extending 
for  a  much  greater  distance ;  it  flows  into  the  Ohio  not  far 
to  the  west  of  the  Cumberland,  the  town  of  Paducah  mark 
ing  its  mouth.  These  three  rivers  formed  three  natural 
lines  of  defense  for  the  Confederates.  The  refusal  of  Ken 
tucky  to  secede  and  the  vigor  and  foresight  of  General 
Grant  and  the  governor  of  Illinois  prevented  the  Southern- 


1 862] 


The  Contest  in  the  West 


501 


ers  from  so  using  the  Ohio.  Ulysses  S.  Grant  had  been 
educated  at  West  Point,  and  had  served  with  the  colors 
during  the  Mexican  War,  but  was  engaged  in  business  pur 
suits  at  the.  time  of  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter.  Entering 
into  the  contest  with  great  energy,  his  military  knowledge 
at  once  brought  him  to  the  front.  He  was  stationed  at 
Cairo.  Seeing  the  importance  of  Paducah,  he  seized  that 
place  and  thus  gained  control  of  the  Ohio  for  the  federal 
government. 

In  the  first  months  of  1862,  while  McClellan  held  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  inactive  in  its  camps,  the  Western 
armies  were  up  and  doing.  On  January  19,  General  George 
H.  Thomas  defeated  a  Southern  force  equal  to  his  own  near 
Mill  Springs,  and  compelled  the  Confederates  to  abandon 
the  upper  Cumberland  valley. 

Deprived  of  the  control  of  the  mouths  of  the  Tennessee 
and  Cumberland  rivers,  the  Southerners  had  endeavored  to 
close  them  to  the  use  of  the  Union  forces,  who  were  strong 
on  the  water,  by  the  erection  of  two  forts  at  points  where 
the  rivers  approach  each  other  very  closely  before  they  join 
the  Ohio,  —  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee  and  Fort  Don- 
elson  on  the  Cumberland.  They  were  so  near  together  that 
the  garrison  of  one  fort  could  reinforce  that  of  the  other. 
The  command  of  the  Tennessee  was  of  great  importance  to 
both  combatants  ;  for  if  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Union 
forces,  a  highway  would  be  open  to  them  as  far  south  as 
Alabama  and  Mississippi.  In  February,  1862,  Grant,  in 
co-operation  with  a  naval  force  under  Commodore  Foote, 
captured  the  forts  and  the  greater  part  of  their  garrisons, 
but  not  without  inflicting  severe  hardships  on  the  Union 
soldiers,  who  were  exposed  to  the  most  inclement  weather. 
The  valleys  of  both  rivers  now  lay  open  to  the  Union 
armies.  In  the  following  March,  another  Federal  army, 
under  General  John  Pope,  seized  New  Madrid  and  Island 
No.  10,  two  formidable  positions  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  opened  that  stream  to  the  Union  forces  as  far  south 
as  Memphis. 


General 

Grant. 

Rhodes's 

United 

States,  III, 

594- 


Capture  of 
Forts  Henry 
and  Donel- 
son,  Febru 
ary,  1862. 
Battles  and 
Leaders,  I, 
358; 
Dodge's 
View,  ch.  vi. 


502 


The  Civil    War 


[§35o 


Expectations 
of  the 
Southerners. 


The  Trent 
affair. 
Battles  and 
Leaders,  II, 
135- 


350.  The  Trent  Affair,  1861.  — Soon  after  the  beginning 
of  the  conflict,  the  President,  following  out  the  policy  of  starv 
ing  the  Southerners  to  surrender,  had  proclaimed  a  blockade 
of  the  Southern  ports  (p.  494).  Upon  this,  Great  Britain 
and  France  granted  belligerents'  rights  to  the  Southerners. 
The  Confederates  hoped  and  expected  that  the  foreign 
powers  would  recognize  their  independence.  They  based 
this  hope  on  the  idea  that  "  cotton  is  king  "  ;  that  the  action 
of  the  United  States  in  closing  their  ports  and  practically 
prohibiting  the  exportation  of  cotton  would  cause  so  much 
suffering  among  the  working  people  of  Great  Britain  and 
France  that  those  governments  would  be  forced,  not  merely 
to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Southern  Confederacy, 
but  to  take  part  in  the  contest  and  open  the  Southern  ports 
to  commerce.  In  this  expectation,  they  were  doomed  to 
disappointment.  The  supply  of  cotton  on  hand  tided  the 
spinners  over  the  first  period  of  the  war,  until  it  became 
clear  that  the  contest  was  in  reality  a  struggle  between  free 
labor  and  slave  labor,  in  which  free  workingmen  all  the 
world  over  "were  interested.  Far  otherwise  was  it  with  the 
governing  cla'sses  in  Britain.  A  few  leading  men,  as  Richard 
Cobden,  John  Bright,  and  Goldwin  Smith,  strongly  sup 
ported  the  Northern  side.  But  most  men  in  political  life 
would  have  gladly  welcomed  the  "  new  nation,"  as  William 
Ewart  Gladstone  called  the  Confederacy.  An  incident 
almost  immediately  gave  the  English  government  an  oppor 
tunity  to  show  on  which  side  its  sympathies  were. 

Anxious  to  secure  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
the  Confederacy,  the  government  at  Richmond  dispatched 
two  agents  or  commissioners,  as  they  were  called,  to  Europe. 
Escaping  through  the  blockading  fleet,  they  embarked  on 
the  British  mail  steamer  Trent,  and  were  removed  from  the 
deck  of  that  vessel,  on  the  high  seas,  by  a  boarding  party 
from  the  United  States  war  ship  San  Jacinto.  The  Trent 
was  then  permitted  to  continue  her  voyage.  This  act 
aroused  great  rejoicing  in  the  United  States  ;  but  Lincoln 
at  once  said,  "  We  must  stick  to  American  principles  con- 


1 862]  The   Trent  Affair  503 

earning  the  rights  of  neutrals."  Ever  since  the  beginning 
of  its  existence,  the  American  government  had  protested 
against  the  exercise  of  the  "right  of  search"  (pp.  324,413), 
and  had  manfully  insisted  on  the  freedom  of  neutral  com 
merce.  The  British  government,  without  waiting  to  seek 
explanations  from  the  United  States,  ordered  soldiers  to 
Canada  and  took  measures  to  strengthen  the  British  fleet 
in  American  waters.  Fortunately,  Captain  Wilkes  of  the 
San  Jacinto  had  not  complied  with  the  formalities  required 
by  the  rules  of  international  law :  he  had  not  brought  the 
Trent  into  port  for  adjudication  as  carrying  contraband  of 
war.  The  United  States  was  therefore  able  to  give  up  the 
commissioners  without  loss  of  honor.  The  eagerness  with 
which  Great  Britain  seized  the  first  opportunity  to  embarrass 
the  Unitecl  States  in  a  time  of  great  difficulty  created  a  bit 
terness  of  feeling  in  America,  which  was  not  lessened  by  the 
laxity  shown  by  the  British  government  in  enforcing  inter 
national  obligations  in  the  case  of  the  Alabama  and  other 
vessels,  which  will  be  described  later  (p.  527).  Never 
theless,  the  commissioners,  when  liberated,  accomplished 
little  or  nothing  in  Europe. 

351.  Capture  of  New  Orleans,  1862.  —  One  of  the  most  Blockade  of 
difficult  problems  from  the  blockader's  point  of  view  was  the  the  Mlssis- 
closing  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
in  place  of  one  mouth  there  were  several  mouths.  It  was 
practically  impossible  to  enforce  the  blockade  at  this  point. 
The  possession  of  the  lower  Mississippi  also  greatly  favored 
the  Confederates  by  making  easy  the  transportation  of  troops 
and  supplies  from  Texas ;  and  there  was  a  large  contraband 
commerce  across  the  Mexican  border,  and  thence  through 
Texas,  which  could  not  be  stopped  so  long  as  the  Con 
federates  controlled  the  lower  Mississippi.  For  all  these 
reasons,  as  well  as  for  others  which  are  more  obvious,  the 
capture  of  New  Orleans  was  extremely  desirable. 

New  Orleans  stands  almost  on  a  level  with  the  Mississippi.  Topography 
It  was  entirely  unprotected  on  the  river  side,  but  the  ap-  ^ou^New 
proach  to  it  was  guarded  by  two  forts,  situated  some  dis-  Orleans. 


504 


The  Civil   War 


[§35i 


Admiral 
Farragut. 


Capture 
of  New 
Orleans, 
April,  1862. 
King's  New 
Orleans, 
ch.  xiii ; 
Battles  and 
Leaders, 

11,14; 
Maclay's 
Navy,' II, 
364-407. 


tance  below  the  city.  The  country  around  New  Orleans 
was  unsuited  to  military  operations,  owing  to  its  swampy 
character,  and  the  mouths  of  the  great  river  were 
all  dangerous  as  anchorages  for  seagoing  vessels.  The 
capture  of  this  formidable  position  was  intrusted  to  David 
G.  Farragut,  a  naval  officer  who  had  passed  his  boyhood  in 
Louisiana.  He  had  a  large  naval  force  at  his  disposal,  — 
wooden  seagoing  vessels,  —  and  soldiers  were  at  hand  to 
co-operate  with  him.  Farragut  lightened  his  vessels  by  the 
removal  of  guns  and  heavy  stores  and  entered  the  river  with 

all  save  his  larg 
est  ship.  The 
guns  and  stores 
were  then 
brought  over 
the  bar,  taken 
on  board,  and 
the  fleet  pro 
ceeded  up 
stream.  He 

found  the  river 
obstructed  by 
chains  and  spars. 
While  awaiting 
a  favorable  op 
portunity  to  pass 
these  obstruc 
tions,  a  sustained  bombardment  of  the  forts  was  kept 
up  by  mortar  vessels  moored  out  of  sight  of  the  Con 
federates.  Before  long,  the  obstructions  were  safely  passed 
at  night,  and  the  Union  fleet  engaged  the  forts  and  a 
Confederate  flotilla.  Then,  steaming  onwards,  it  anchored 
off  New  Orleans.  The  city  was  at  Farragut's  mercy.  It 
surrendered,  and  soon  afterwards  the  forts  were  abandoned 
to  the  Northern  soldiers  (April,  1862).  This  great  vic 
tory  gave  the  control  of  the  lower  Mississippi  to  the  Union 
government. 


Admiral  Farragut 


i862j  Shilok  505 

352.    Shiloh,  April,  1862.  — The  victories  of  Thomas  and   Shiioh,  April, 
Grant  in  January  and  February,  1862,  compelled  the  South-    l862> 

.  Battles  and 

erners  to  abandon  the  greater  part  of  the  state  of  Tennessee  Leaders, 
and  to  rally  to  the  defense  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  1,465; 
Railroad.  The  possession  of  this  road  was  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  the  Confederates,  because  it  connected  Mem 
phis  on  the  Mississippi  with  Chattanooga  on  the  upper 
Tennessee,  and  was  the  only  direct  line  connecting  the 
Mississippi  valley  above  Vicksburg  with  the  Southern  Atlan 
tic  states.  Its  loss  would  be  a  severe  blow  to  the  Southern 
ers  and  would  make  easier  the  task  of  starving  them  into 
submission.  From  Memphis,  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
Railroad  passes  to  Corinth ;  there  it  crosses  the  only  north 
and  south  line  then  built  in  that  part  of  the  country.  Soon 
after  leaving  Corinth,  the  railroad  reaches  the  Tennessee 
River,  not  far  from  the  little  town  of  Florence,  and  just  to 
the  south  of  Shiloh  church  and  Pittsburg  Landing.  East 
ward  from  Florence,  the  line  follows  the  valley  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  first  on  one  side,  then  on  the  other,  until  it  reaches 
Chattanooga.  The  important  points  in  this  line  of  com 
munication  were  Chattanooga,  where  the  railroad  connects 
with  the  seaboard  lines ;  Pittsburg  Landing,  where  soldiers 
and  supplies  could  be  transferred  by  wagon-road  from  the 
river  steamers  to  the  railroad  ;  Corinth,  the  junction  with  the 
line  running  parallel  to  the  Mississippi ;  and  Memphis,  an 
important  shipping  port  on  the  great  river.  General  Halleck, 
who  now  commanded  the  Union  armies  in  the  West,  ordered 
Grant  to  ascend  the  Tennessee  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  and 
there  await  the  coming  of  Buell  with  a  strong  force  from 
Nashville.  Suddenly  the  Confederates,  under  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston,  attacked  Grant's  force  and  drove  it  back  towards 
Pittsburg  Landing.  A  commander  of  less  stubborn  ob 
stinacy  would  have  retreated  ;  but  Grant,  with  his  indomita 
ble  courage,  held  on  until  distant  detachments  of  his  own 
army  could  march  to  the  scene  of  conflict,  and  Buell's 
soldiers,  who  reached  the  Tennessee  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  first  day  of  battle,  could  be  ferried  across  the  river. 


5o6  The  Civil  War  [§  353 

Then  Grant  attacked  in  his  turn  and  drove  the  Confederates 
back  (April,  1862).  This  battle  was  one  of  the  most  hotly 
contested  during  the  war,  and  cost  the  opposing  armies 
twenty-four  thousand  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing: 
among  the  killed  was  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  the  Con 
federate  commander. 

Halleck  now  assumed  direct  command  of  the  Northern 
forces,  united  Grant's,  Buell's,  and  Pope's  armies  into  one 
formidable  body,  and  occupied  Corinth  (May,  1862). 
Memphis  surrendered  to  a  naval  force  about  a  month  later. 
The  Mississippi  was  now  open  to  Union  vessels,  except 
between  Memphis  and  Baton  Rouge.  The  Confederates 
were  severely  crippled  by  the  loss  of  men  and  territory,  and 
especially  by  the  destruction  of  one  end  of  their  principal 
defensive  line  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Unless  they  could 
regain  control  of  Corinth  and  Memphis,  they  were  likely  to 
lose  the  states  of  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  Tennessee, 
ironclads.  353.  The  Monitor  and  the  Merr/mac,  March,  1862. — 

Vessels  cased  wholly  or  partly  in  iron  had  been  in  use  on  the 
Western  rivers  since  the  autumn  of  1860,  and  had  played  an 
important  part  in  Grant's  campaign  on  the  Cumberland  and 
Tennessee.  The  first  armored  vessel  to  appear  in  Eastern 
waters  was  the  Virginia.  Among  the  graceful  frigates  of 
the  pre-war  period  was  the  Merrimac.  She  was  at  Norfolk 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  contest,  and  was  only  partially  de 
stroyed  by  the  Union  forces  when  they  abandoned  the  navy 
yard  at  that  place.  The  Confederates  built  upon  her  hull 
a  house  of  iron  with  the  eaves  under  water,  armed  the  bow 
with  a  formidable  iron  beak,  and  named  her  Virginia.  This 
extraordinary  vessel  appeared  in  Hampton  Roads  on  March 
8,  1862,  destroyed  two  wooden  frigates,  —  the  Cumberland 
and  the  Congress,  —  and  began  the  destruction  of  a  third, 
the  Minnesota.  She  then  retired  to  Norfolk,  intending  to 
continue  her  destructive  work  on  the  morrow.  On  the  night 
following  this  disastrous  day,  an  even  stranger  vessel  anchored 
in  Hampton  Roads.  This  was  the  Union  armored  ship,  the 
Monitor,  designed  by  John  Ericsson,  an  immigrant  from 


1 862]  The  Peninsular  Campaign  507 

Sweden,  and  built  in  one  hundred   days.     She   was   con 
structed  entirely  of  iron,  and  carried  two  large  guns  mounted 
in  a  revolving  iron  turret.      Her  sides  rose  hardly  two  feet 
above  the  water,  and  the  armor,  extending  far  beyond  her 
hull,  effectually  protected  it  from  the  danger  of  ramming  as 
well  as  from  shot  and  shell.     The  next  morning  the  Virginia  Monitor  and 
reappeared,  and  after  a  four  hours'  fight  retired  to  Norfolk  ^rrima^ 
and  did  not  afterwards  renew  the  combat.      The  battles  be-    Oid  s^uth 
tween  the  Virginia  and  the  wooden  vessels  of  the  old  type,  Leaflets,  in, 
and  with  the  turret  ship  of  the  new  type,  worked  a  revolution  ^,jV  and 
in  naval  architecture ;    but  the  danger  threatened  by  the   Leaders,  \, 
Virginia  was  probably  much  exaggerated,  as  she  could  not  611,692; 
have  ventured  into  the  open  sea.     The  fear  she  inspired,  j^y\\ 
however,  operated  powerfully  to  keep  the  naval  authorities   282-324. 
from  exposing  their  unarmored  vessels  in  the  James  and  the 
York  rivers,  and  thus  produced  some  effect  on  McClellan's 
campaign. 

354.  The  Peninsular  Campaign,  March  to  August,  1862. —  Peninsular 
Throughout  the  winter  of  1861-62,  McClellan  had  under  his   ^paign' 
immediate  command  double  the  force  of  the  Confederate  Battles  and 
general,  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  but  he  could  not  be  induced  Leaders,  n, 

to  take   the   field.     In    March,    1862,   he   at  last   assumed   !?9'3I?; 

Dodge  s 
the  offensive.     Instead  of  maneuvering  Johnston  out  of  his    view,  chs. 

fortified  position,  and  attacking  him  on  the  first  opportunity,  xi-xiii. 
McClellan  decided  to  transport  his  army  to  the  peninsula 
formed  by  the  York  and  the  James  rivers,  and  advance  upon 
Richmond  from  the  east  instead  of  from  the  north.  By 
pursuing  this  route,  he  would  avoid  crossing  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  Rapidan,  Pamunkey,  and  Mattapony  rivers,  and  would 
compel  Johnston  to  abandon  his  camps  near  Bull  Run  and 
march  southward  to  the  defense  of  the  Confederate  capital. 
McClellan,  however,  encountered  several  checks  at  the  out 
set  :  the  civil  authorities,  anxious  for  the  safety  of  Washing 
ton,  retained  about  seventy-five  thousand  men  there  and  in 
the  Shenandoah  valley.  McClellan's  plans  became  known 
to  Johnston  almost  as  soon  as  formed.  The  result  of  this 
and  of  McClellan's  slowness  was  that  when  the  Union  sol- 


THE 

CIVIL  WAR 

IN  THE  EAST 


1 862] 


Second  Bull  Run  Campaign 


509 


diers  reached  the  peninsula,  instead  of  finding  it  a  clear 
field  for  their  advance  on  Richmond,  they  found  their  way 
barred  by  a  line  of  entrenchments  extending  from  Yorktown 
to  the  James.  By  the  end  of  May,  however,  the  Union 
army  reached  the  vicinity  of  Richmond,  and  fought  a  severe 
and  indecisive  battle  at  Fair  Oaks  —  about  ten  miles  from 
the  Confederate  capital  (May  31).  Joseph  E.  Johnston 
was  wounded,  and  Lee  assumed  command.  Meantime  a 
Confederate  army  in  the  Shenandoah  valley,  led  by  Thomas 
J.Jackson,  —  known  popularly  as  "Stonewall  Jackson, "- 
had  been  fighting  a  remarkable  campaign.  So  admirably 
had  Jackson  planned,  and  so  wonderfully  had  his  soldiers 
marched,  that  they  had  defeated  two  Union  armies  in  suc 
cession.  Lee  now  ordered  Jackson  to  abandon  the  valley 
and  transport  his  men  by  rail  to  Richmond.  With  this  rein 
forcement,  Lee  attacked  the  Union  army  again  and  again 
(June  26-July  2,  1862)  ;  forced  it  to  withdraw  to  the 
James  :  and  attacked  it  there  on  Malvern  Hill,  to  be  re 
pulsed  with  fearful  loss.  In  these  engagements,  the  total 
loss  was  thirty-six  thousand  men,  more  than  one  half  of 
which  was  on  the  Southern  side. 

355.  The  Second  Bull  Run  Campaign,  August,  1862.— 
Notwithstanding  its  misfortunes,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
still  threatened  Richmond,  and  Lee,  to  secure  its  withdrawal, 
determined  to  make  a  demonstration  against  Washington. 
Halleck's  victories  at  Corinth  and  Memphis  had  commended 
him  to  the  government.  He  had  been  summoned  to  Wash 
ington  to  act  as  chief  of  staff,  or  military  adviser  to  the 
President.  In  his  turn  he  had  called  General  Pope  from 
the  Mississippi  valley  to  command  the  troops  defending 
the  federal  capital.  Halleck  and  Lee  had  known  one 
another  before  the  war,  and  Lee  now  felt  certain  that  if  he 
should  seriously  threaten  Washington  Halleck  would  sum 
mon  McClellan  from  the  peninsula.  This  calculation  proved 
to  be  well  founded,  for  no  sooner  was  Lee's  purpose  known 
than  McClellan  was  ordered  to  retire  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Richmond  and  later  to  send  assistance  to  Pope.  The 


Pope's 
campaign, 
1862. 

Battles  and 
Leaders, 
II.Soi; 
Dodge's 
View,  ch. 
xiv. 


5io 


The  Civil   War 


[§356 


Second 
battle  of 
Bull  Run, 
August,  1862. 


Antietam, 

September, 

1862. 

Battles  and 

Leaders, 

11,630; 

Dodge's 

View, 

102-107. 


Fredericks- 
burg,  Decem 
ber,  1862. 
Battles  and 
Leaders, 


Confederates  now  made  one  of  those  rapid  marches  by  which 
they  gained  decisive  advantage.  Jackson  appeared  on  Pope's 
line  of  communication  and  compelled  him  to  retire.  That 
general  had  begun  his  career  in  the  East  with  a  most  vain 
glorious  proclamation  about  neglecting  lines  of  retreat.  He 
was  now  compelled  to  look  to  his  own.  Lee  then  rejoined 
Jackson,  inflicted  a  severe  defeat  on  the  Federals  at  Bull 
Run  (August  29-30,  1862),  and  forced  Pope  backwards  to 
the  defensive  works  around  Washington.  It  was  thought 
at  the  time  that  the  lukewarmness  of  McClellan's  men  in 
supporting  Pope  had  materially  contributed  to  this  disaster 
to  the  Union  cause  ;  especially  was  Fitz-John  Porter  blamed. 
It  now  seems  certain  that,  although  the  Union  soldiers  felt 
slight  confidence  in  Pope,  they  performed  their  duties  in  an 
able  and  soldierly  manner. 

356.  The  Antietam  and  Fredericksburg,  1862.  — Elated 
by  this  extraordinary  success,  the  Confederate  authorities 
determined  to  carry  the  war  into  the  North.  Lee  crossed 
the  Potomac  near  Harper's  Ferry  to  release  Maryland  from 
"  the  foreign  yoke  "  —  as  connection  with  the  Union  was 
termed  —  and  to  add  that  state  to  the  number  of  the 
seceders.  He  found  the  mass  of  the  people  of  Maryland 
hostile.  Meantime  McClellan  was  now  again  in  command. 
Keeping  between  the  Confederates  and  Washington,  he  met 
the  Southerners  at  the  Antietam  and  there  fought  a  bloody 
battle  (September  17,  1862).  The  Union  force  was  double 
that  under  Lee ;  but  McClellan  threw  away  the  advantages 
which  his  superiority  gave  him  in  a  series  of  disconnected 
assaults.  The  two  armies  lost  twenty-two  thousand  men, 
more  than  twelve  thousand  being  on  the  Union  side.  Lee 
then  retreated  across  the  Potomac,  and  McClellan  was  super 
seded  by  General  Ambrose  E.  Burnside. 

The  Confederates  now  fortified  Marye's  Heights  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Rappahannock  behind  Fredericksburg. 
Burnside  attacked  this  impregnable  position  in  front,  and 
was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  thirteen  thousand  men  to  four 
thousand  on  the  Confederate  side  (December  13,  1862). 


1 862]  Campaign  in  Eastern   Tennessee  511 

The  "Horror   of  Fredericksburg "  led  to  Burnside's  dis-   Dodge's 
missal  and  the  elevation  of  "  Fighting  Joe  "  Hooker  to  the 
chief  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

357.   Campaign  in  Eastern  Tennessee,  1862.  —  After  the  Bueii  and 
occupation  of  the  western  end  of  the  Memphis  and  Charles-   ^ragg. 

Battles  and 

ton  Railroad,  two  lines  of  attack  presented  themselves  to  Leaders, 
the  Union  commander  :  the  capture  of  Vicksburg  and  other  in,  y-\ 
fortresses  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  occupa-  ^f  ^h  x 
tion  of  Chattanooga  and  eastern  Tennessee.  The  latter 
was  the  more  important  as  its  accomplishment  would  make 
communication  between  Virginia  and  the  Gulf  states  diffi 
cult  and  slow  and  thus  greatly  aid  a  future  conquest  of 
Mobile,  Vicksburg,  and  other  places  in  Mississippi.  Accord 
ingly,  Halleck  ordered  Buell,  with  one  portion  of  the 
Western  army,  to  proceed  to  Chattanooga;  Grant  and 
Rosecrans,  with  the  other  divisions,  were  to  remain  in 
and  about  Corinth  and  make  what  conquests  they  could. 
Braxton  Bragg,  the  new  Southern  commander  in  the  West, 
showed  himself  to  be  a  man  of  military  perception  and 
energy.  Leaving  Price  and  Van  Dorn  to  occupy  the 
attention  of  Grant  and  Rosecrans,  he  placed  thirty  thou 
sand  men  on  railroad  cars,  transported  them  to  Mobile, 
and  thence  to  Chattanooga,  and  reached  that  place  in 
advance  of  Buell.  He  then  eluded  that  commander  and 
marched  northward  across  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  to 
the  vicinity  of  Louisville  on  the  southern  side  of  the 
Ohio  River;  a  small  force  even  penetrated  as  far  as 
Cincinnati.  Bragg  was  then  obliged  to  retire  and  to  fight  Perryville, 
the  Union  army  at  Perryville  (October  8,  1862).  After  °c6t°ber> 
this  conflict  he  retired  to  Chattanooga.  Buell,  instead  of 
following  him,  halted  at  Nashville,  on  the  Cumberland,  and 
was  relieved  by  Rosecrans. 

Before    long    Bragg    again    marched    northward.      This 
time   he   advanced   as   far   as    Murfreesboro   on   the   road   Rosecrans 
to   Nashville.      There,  near  Stone  River,  he   encountered  3£j3i 
the    Union   army,   which   was    on    its    way   southward    to   December, 
Chattanooga.     A  most  stubborn  contest  followed.     Splen-   *862- 


1 862]  Lincoln  s  Policy  as  to  Slavery  513 

didly  commanded    by   Thomas  and   Sheridan,    the   Union   Battles  and 
center    repelled    every    Southern    attack    (December   31,   Leaders> 
1862).      Out   of  eighty   thousand   men   engaged,    twenty-   Dodges' 
three  thousand   were  placed  out  of  the    fighting   line   by    View,  122- 
this  one  day's  battle.    Bragg  retired  toward  Chattanooga,  and   I2  * 
Rosecrans  remained  where  he  was  for  nearly  six  months, 
until  June,  1863. 

Meantime  Price  and  Van  Dorn  endeavored  to  carry  out 
their  part  of  the  Confederate  plan  of  campaign.  They 
attacked  the  Union  armies  at  luka  (September  19,  1862) 
and  at  Corinth  (October  3  and  4,  1862),  and  were  each 
time  repulsed,  but  they  prevented  the  sending  of  rein 
forcements  to  Buell.  The  autumn  campaign,  therefore, 
may  be  said  to  have  been  unfavorable  to  the  Northern 
armies. 

358.  Lincoln's  Policy  as  to  Slavery,  1861-63.  —  In  his  in-  Lincoln's 
augural  address  (p.  482),  President  Lincoln  had  stated  that  slavery 
he  stood  by  the  declaration  in  the  Chicago  platform  (p.  469), 
—  that  the  right  of  "  each  state  to  regulate  its  own  domestic 
institutions  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively  "  was 
essential  to  the  "  endurance  of  our  political  fabric.  For 
a  long  time,  a  year  and  a  half,  Lincoln  maintained  this 
position  so  far  as  the  march  of  events  permitted  him  so 
to  do.  In  1 86 1  General  John  C.  Fremont,  the  first  candi 
date  of  the  modern  Republican  party  for  President,  and 
now  commanding  the  military  department  of  Missouri,  had 
issued  an  order  to  the  effect  that  the  slaves  of  all  persons  in 
Missouri,  taking  up  arms  against  the  Federal  government, 
should  be  free.  The  President  overruled  him.  Later  on, 
in  1862,  General  Hunter,  commanding  the  Federal  forces 
in  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida,  issued  an  order 
declaring  all  the  slaves  in  those  states  free ;  but  Lincoln 
reversed  this  order,  stating  that  he  reserved  the  manage 
ment  of  the  whole  matter  to  himself  as  commander  in  chief. 
He  well  knew  that  the  mass  of  the  people  in  the  North 
cared  little  for  abolition  and  would  not  have  entered  upon 
the  war  to  free  the  slaves  —  their  purpose  was  to  save  the 


The  Civil   War 


[§358 


Congress 
and  slavery, 
1862. 


Lincoln's 
letter  to 
Greeley, 
August,  1862. 
Stedman 
and  Hutchin- 
son,  VII,  81 ; 


Union.  There  was,  however,  a  body  of  determined  and 
energetic  men  in  the  North  who  were  resolved  to  bring 
about  the  abolition  of  slavery.  They  did  not  at  all  like  the 
attitude  which  the  President  had  taken. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  conflict  slaves  had  been 
received  into  the  Union  lines  and  there  retained.  General 
B.  F.  Butler,  commanding  at  Fortress  Monroe,  appears  to 
have  begun  this  measure  by  refusing  to  deliver  up  slaves 
who  had  escaped  into  his  lines  to  their  owner,  a  Confederate 
soldier  —  who  claimed  them  under  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act. 
Butler  declared  that  he  retained  them  as  "  contraband  of 
war,"  on  the  ground  that  their  services  would  be  useful  to 
the  enemy.  This  policy  was  approved  by  the  President  and 
by.  Congress. 

In  March,  1862,  Lincoln  took  an  important  step  in  recom 
mending  Congress  to  grant  pecuniary  aid  to  any  state  which 
should  undertake  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  with  com 
pensation  to  the  owners.  Congress  fell  in  with  the 'Presi 
dent's  views;  it  also  (April,  1862)  passed  a  law  abolishing 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  with  compensation  to 
the  owners ;  West  Virginia,  too,  abolished  slavery  within  its 
limits.  The  Senate,  at  about  the  same  time,  ratified  a 
treaty  with  Great  Britain  for  suppressing  the  slave  trade 
by  permitting  a  mutual  right  of  search  of  merchant  vessels 
within  two  hundred  miles  of  the  African  coast,  and  within 
thirty  leagues  of  the  more  important  places  outside  the 
United  States,  where  slavery  still  existed.  In  June  (1862), 
Congress  took  a  long  stride  forward  by  abolishing  slavery  in 
the  territories  without  compensation,  and  in  the  following 
July  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  seizure  of  slaves  of 
persons  then  in  rebellion. 

Lincoln  had  been  much  influenced  by  the  stubborn  resist 
ance  offered  by  the  Southerners.  He  also  probably  thought 
that  the  antislavery  sentiment  was  gaining  strength  in  the 
North.  He  already  had  in  mind  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  in  the  states  then  in  insurrection  as  a  war  measure 
justifiable  under  the  Constitution.  On  August  19,  1862, 


1863]  The  Emancipation  Proclamation  515 

Horace  Greeley's  paper,  the  New  York  Tribune,  contained  American 
an  article  bitterly  attacking  the  President's  policy  of  inaction  ^"^ 
as  to  slave  emancipation.  In  reply  Lincoln  wrote  a  letter  No  26 ' 
to  Greeley,  contradicting  nothing,  denying  nothing,  but 
setting  forth  his  ideas  in  language  which  no  one  could  mis 
understand.  "I  would  save  the  Union,"  he  said;  "I  would 
save  it  the  shortest  way  under  the  Constitution.  .  .  .  My 
paramount  object  in  this  struggle  is  to  save  the  Union,  and 
is  not  either  to  save  or  to  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save 
the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it;  and  if 
I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it ;  and 
if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone, 
I  would  also  do  that."  The  true  heart  and  singleness  of 
purpose  which  animated  Lincoln,  as  well  as  the  wisdom 
which  guided  his  actions,  were 
seldom  more  conspicuous  than 
in  this  letter,  which  should  be  cX  / 
read  by  all  students  who  desire  to  understand  this  epoch  in 
our  history.  His  "  personal  wish,"  he  concluded  by  saying, 
was  "that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free" ;  at  the  time 
it  did  not  coincide  with  what  he  deemed  to  be  his  plain 
official  duty  as  President. 

359.   The   Emancipation   Proclamation,    1863.  —  Lincoln   Emancipa- 
soon  became  convinced,  however,  that  the  emancipation  of  tion  Procla- 
the  slaves,  so  far  as   he  could  bring  it  about,  would  be  a  january 
justifiable  means  of  distressing  the  Southerners,  and  would   1863. 
arouse  sympathy  for  the  Union  cause  abroad.     At  the  same 
time,  it  would  satisfy  the  demands  of  an  influential  body  of  ser.  No.  u; 
his  supporters  in  the  North,  and  could  be  justified  to  his   Stedman 
more    numerous   supporters   as  a  war  measure.     He  only  *"n  v"  c  ™~ 
waited  for  some  Union  success   to   justify  the  step.     The 
collapse  of  Lee's  invasion  of  Maryland  gave  him  the  oppor 
tunity  he  desired,  and  on  September  22,  1862,  he  issued  a 
proclamation  stating  that  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year 
(1863)  he  would  declare  free  all  slaves  in  any  portion  of 
the    country   which    should    then    be    in   rebellion   against 
the  United  States.     Accordingly,  on  January    i,  1863,  he 


5i6 


The  Civil  War 


[§360 


Political 
results  of  the 
proclama 
tion. 


Topography 
of  country 
around 
Vicksburg. 


issued  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  The  force  and 
legal  effect  of  this  document  has  been  disputed ;  it  is  clear, 
however,  that  it  operated  to  free  persons  held  in  slavery  in 
portions  of  the  United  States  then  in  insurrection,  wherever 
such  portions  were  occupied  by  the  Union  armies.  Of 
course  it  did  not  abolish  slavery  as  an  institution  anywhere. 
As  the  declaration  of  a  policy,  its  effect  was  very  important. 
In  the  November  elections  following,  the  Republicans  lost 
ground.  Some  of  the  change  of  feeling,  thus  indicated,  was 
due  to  Lincoln's  action ;  but  how  much  cannot  be  stated. 
In  the  end,  however,  the  policy  found  favor.  Two  slave 
states  still  in  the  Union  abolished  slavery,  —  Missouri,  June, 
1863,  and  Maryland,  October,  1864.  The  issue  became 
one  of  the  important  questions  in  the  campaign  of  1864, 
which  resulted  in  the  overwhelming  re-election  of  Lincoln 
(p.  528).  The  Congress  then  in  being  had  already  rejected 
the  Thirteenth  Amendment  abolishing  slavery  throughout 
the  United  States.  It  now  (January,  1865)  accepted  it 
by  the  necessary  two-thirds  majority.  The  amendment  was 
ratified  by  the  requisite  number  of  states  and  declared  in 
force,  December,  1865.  Slavery  was  now  legally  abolished 
throughout  the  Union. 

360.  The  Vicksburg  Campaign,  1863 The  departure  of 

Halleck  and  Pope  to  Washington  and  Buell  and  Rosecrans 
to  eastern  Tennessee  left  Grant  in  sole  command  in  Missis 
sippi.  Unfortunately,  Halleck  did  not  trust  Grant,  and  the 
latter's  military  rivals  were,  therefore,  frequently  able  to 
hamper  his  plans.  A  study  of  the  map  of  the  forms  of 
land  (Map  I)  at  once  shows  the  difficulties  which  nature 
placed  in  the  way  of  the  further  conquest  of  the  Missis 
sippi  valley.  The  great  flood  plain  of  that  river  extends 
on  the  western  side  nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio ;  on 
the  eastern  side,  it  is  cut  into  two  parts  by  the  bluffs  which 
approach  the  river  at  Natchez  and  form  its  eastern  bank 
northward  to  Vicksburg.  Northward  from  the  latter  point  the 
flood  plain  again  stretches  along  the  eastern  bank  as  far  as 
Memphis  (Map  p.  512).  These  "bottom  lands"  were 


1863] 


The    Vic  ks  burg  Campaign 


517 


admirably  suited  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton;  they  were 
practically  inaccessible  to  an  army,  and  almost  inaccessible  to 
a  hostile  fleet,  as  the  channels  of  the  streams  which  intersected 
them  in  every  direction  could  easily  be  blocked  by  felling 
trees  on  their  banks.  In  these  circumstances,  the  easiest 
way  to  approach  Vicksburg  was  by  an  overland  march  south 
ward  from  Corinth.  Public  opinion  in  the  North,  however, 
was  decidedly  in  favor  of  an  advance  by  the  line  of  the  Mis 
sissippi.  Grant  divided  his  army,  sending  Sherman  down  the 
river  while  he  marched  overland.  A  sudden  attack  on  his 
supply  depots  compelled  Grant  to  draw  back,  and  Sherman, 
assaulting  the  bluffs  above  Vicksburg,  was  repulsed  with 
heavy  loss.  Grant  now  carried  his  whole  army  down  stream  Grant 
and  tried  scheme  after  scheme  without  accomplishing  his  caPtures 
purpose.  Vicksburg  itself  was  of  slight  importance,  but  bat- 
teries  posted  on  the  high  ground  just  above  the  town  and 
also  on  a  level  with  the  stream  commanded  the  course  of  f?rf' 

III,  493  ; 

the  river  for  miles,  as  in  those  days  it  made  a  bend  at  al-  Dodge's 
most  a  right  angle  at  this  point.  Finally,  Grant  marched 
his  army  by  Vicksburg  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi, 
crossed  the  river  below  the  fortress,  and  after  fighting  sev 
eral  battles  gained  a  position  in  its  rear.  The  Confederate 
commander,  General  Pemberton,  retreated  with  his  army  into 
the  works,  although  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  had  recovered 
from  his  wound  and  had  assumed  command  of  the  Confed 
erate  forces  in  the  West,  ordered  him  to  save  his  army  by 
flight.  After  enduring  a  long  and  perilous  siege,  Pember 
ton  surrendered  (July  4,  1863).  In  a  few  weeks,  the 
other  Confederate  posts  on  the  river  also  fell  into  Union 
hands,  and  the  Mississippi  from  source  to  mouth  was  under 
the  control  of  the  national  government.  While  Grant  and 
Pemberton  were  arranging  terms  of  capitulation  on  July  3, 
1863,  tne  Union  army  repelled  the  last  assault  of  the  Con 
federates  on  the  lines  at  Gettysburg. 

361.  Chancellor  sville,  May,  1863.  —  From  the  middle  of 
December,  1862,  to  the  end  of  April,  1863,  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  remained  quietly  in  camp  at  Falmouth,  opposite 


Vicksburp1 

ju]y(  l863-' 
Battles  and 


View> 


5i8 


The  Civil   War 


[§362 


Chancellors- 
ville,  May, 
1863. 

Battles  and 
Leaders, 

111,154; 
Dodge's 
View, 
127-131. 


Gettysburg, 
July,  1863. 
Battles  and 
Leaders, 

111,255; 
Dodge's 
View, 
132-141. 


Fredericksburg  —  the  Confederates  retaining  their  strong 
position  on  Marye's  Heights  (p.  510).  At  length,  on  April 
30,  Hooker  led  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  out  of  its  camps, 
and,  by  a  skillful  maneuver,  placed  it  nearly  across  the  line 
of  Lee's  communications  with  the  South.  Instead  of  pushing 
to  the  utmost  the  advantage  thus  gained,  Hooker  halted 
in  the  forest,  which  is  dense  at  that  point,  establishing 
his  headquarters  at  Chancellorsville.  Lee  had  about  one 
half  as  many  soldiers  under  his'  orders  as  Hooker.  Never 
theless,  he  divided  them  in  two  parts.  With  one  portion 
Jackson  marched  across  the  front  of  the  Union  line  and 
suddenly  attacked  it  at  the  point  farthest  removed  from 
Marye's  Heights.  He  found  the  Northern  soldiers  entirely 
unprepared,  and  nearly  destroyed  Hooker's  right  wing 
before  help  could  be  sent ;  on  the  following  night,  Jackson 
was  accidentally  shot  by  his  own  men  while  returning  from 
an  examination  of  the  Union  position.  Lee,  redoubling 
his  attacks,  drove  Hooker  back  across  the  Rappahannock 
and  then,  turning  on  a  Federal  force,  which  had  mean 
time  seized  Marye's  Heights,  compelled  them  to  seek  the 
northern  shore  of  the  stream.  In  four  days  (May  2-5, 
1863)  Lee,  with  sixty-one  thousand  men,  had  dealt  a  terrible 
blow  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  of  one  hundred  and  five 
thousand  men.  He  now  decided  again  to  invade  the  North. 
362.  Gettysburg,  July,  1863.  —  Leading  his  soldiers 
through  the  valley  of  Virginia,  Lee  crossed  the  Potomac 
and  entered  Pennsylvania.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  also 
crossed  that  river,  keeping  between  the  Confederates  and 
the  national  capital.  On  June  28,  while  this  movement 
was  in  progress,  the  Union  forces  received  a  new  com 
mander,  George  G.  Meade.  Three  days  later  (July  i),  the 
two  armies  came  together  at  the  little  village  of  Gettysburg. 
At  first  the  Confederates  were  in  greater  force  and  the 
Unionists  retreated  through  the  village  to  a  fishhook-shaped 
crest  known  locally  as  Cemetery  Ridge.  The  position 
proved  to  be  remarkably  strong,  and  Meade  determined  to 
fight  the  decisive  battle  at  that  point.  On  the  next  day 


1863]  Northern  Opposition  to  the    War  519 

(July  2)  the  Confederates  attacked  vigorously,  drove  back 
the  Union  left,  and  gained  a  position  on  the  right  which  seri 
ously  menaced  the  whole  line.  On  the  morning  of  the  3d, 
the  Northern  soldiers  drove  them  out  of  this  advantageous 
spot,  and  repelled  every  attack.  Lee  determined  to  make 
one  more  assault,  and  sent  General  Pickett,  with  fifteen 
thousand  men,  against  the  Union  center  defended  by  troops 
under  General  Hancock.  Splendidly  the  Southerners 
marched  forward,  to  be  repulsed  with  awful  loss.  The  bat 
tle  of  Gettysburg  was  won  at  a  loss  of  fifty  thousand  men 
out  of  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  engaged. 
In  this  conflict,  the  Confederates  had  the  fewer  men  and 
suffered  the  greater  loss. 

Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg  should  have  ended  the  war; 
there  was  no  longer  any  hope  of  Southern  success :  every 
month  the  war  continued  only  made  more  dreadful  the 
ruin  of  the  South ;  every  month  saw  an  addition  to  the 
strength  and  resources  of  the  North. 

363.   Northern  Opposition  to  the  War. —  It  was,  indeed,   Opposition 
fortunate  that  these  successes  came  when  they  did  ;  for  the   to  Federal 

TT    •  11111        government 

Union  government,  at  the  moment,  was  hard  pressed  by  the   in  the  North. 

Northern  opponents  of  its  policy.     There  were  many  sincere,   Johnston's 

well-meaning  persons  in  the   North  who  were    strongly  of 

the  opinion  that  the  general  government,  under  cover  of 

military  necessity,  was   using   its    power   to  overthrow  the 

rights  of  the  states  and  the  personal  liberty  of  private  citizens. 

In  the  critical  days  following  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  Lincoln 

had  found  it  necessary  to  seize  private  property,  as  railroads 

and  telegraph  lines,  and  to  use  them  for  military  purposes. 

He  also  had  ordered  the  arrest  of  persons  suspected  of 

hostility  to  the  Union  cause.      There  was  little    evidence 

to  convict  these  persons  of  crimes  recognized  by  the  law, 

and,  to  secure  their  detention,  Lincoln  had  suspended  the 

operation  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.     This  brought  about 

an  irritating  constitutional  controversy.     The   Constitution 

(Art.    i,    §    9)    merely    states    that    the    "writ   of  habeas 

corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebel- 


520 


The  Civil   War 


[§364 


The  draft 
riots,  1863. 


Chicka- 
mauga,  Sep 
tember,  1863. 
Battles  and 
Leaders, 
111,638; 
Dodge's 
View, 
172-183. 


lion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  may  require  it."  Article  i 
delates  to  the  legislative  power,  and  it  might  be  inferred 
from  this  that  the  intention  of  the  Constitution  was  that 
Congress  should  exercise  the  suspending  power.  The  Presi 
dent  ordered  the  suspension  of  the  writ  when  Congress  was 
not  in  session,  and  there  was  ground  for  the  argument  that 
unless  the  Executive  exercised  this  function  it  could  not  be 
exercised  at  all  in  very  critical  moments.  In  1863  Con 
gress,  by  act,  conferred  on  the  President  the  right  to  sus 
pend  the  operation  of  the  writ.  Since  the  war,  the  Supreme 
Court  has  decided  that  the  final  decision  as  to  the  suspen 
sion  of  the  writ  in  a  particular  case  belongs  to  the  courts. 

Another  cause  of  opposition  was  the  action  of  the  govern 
ment  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  Congress  passed  in  1863. 
This  authorized  the  general  government  to  have  resort 
to  a  "  draft "  or  conscription  to  fill  the  ranks  of  the  armies. 
In  the  summer  of  1863  riots  directed  against  the  enforce 
ment  of  this  law  occurred  in  several  places,  especially  in 
New  York.  The  government  was  now  strong  enough  to 
bear  down  all  opposition,  and  the  rioters  were  severely  dealt 
with.  The  real  result  of  the  draft  act,  however,  was  to  com 
pel  the  states  to  fill  their  quotas  of  soldiers  by  paying  large 
bounties  to  those  who  would  enlist  in  the  army. 

364.  Chickamauga  and  Chattanooga,  1863.  —  I"  June,  1863, 
Rosecrans  again  took  up  the  task  of  capturing  Chattanooga. 
By  a  series  of  well-planned  and  admirably  executed  man 
euvers  he  compelled  Bragg  to  abandon  that  place.  After 
Gettysburg,  the  Confederate  army  in  the  West  was  reinforced 
by  two  of  Lee's  divisions,  under  one  of  his  best  commanders, 
General  Longstreet.  General  Burnside  also  led  a  new  Union 
army  to  eastern  Tennessee,  and  occupied  Knoxville.  On 
September  19,  1863,  Bragg  suddenly  attacked  Rosecrans  at 
Chickamauga,  and  nearly  routed  him.  But  here,  as  at  Mur- 
freesboro,  Thomas  saved  the  day  by  holding  the  center  of 
the  Union  position.  Thomas  then  succeeded  Rosecrans  in 
command,  but  was  obliged  to  shelter  his  army  in  Chatta 
nooga,  where  Bragg  blockaded  it,  while  Longstreet  besieged 


American  generals 


522 


The  Civil   War 


[§  365 


Chattanooga, 

November, 

1863. 

Battles  and 

Leaders, 

III,  679; 

Dodge's 

View, 

184-189. 


Grant  made 
lieutenant 
general, 
March,  1864. 


Atlanta 
campaign, 
1864. 

Battles  and 
Leaders, 
IV,  260; 
Dodge's 
View, 
223-243, 
255-262. 


Burnside  at  Knoxville.  Meantime,  Grant  had  taken  com 
mand  of  all  the  Union  armies  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 
He  hastened  to  the  help  of  Thomas  and  Burnside.  Re 
inforcements  had  also  been  sent  from  the  East,  and  Hooker, 
with  a  detachment  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  reached 
Chattanooga  immediately  before  Grant,  with  Sherman's 
corps  of  the  Mississippi  army,  arrived  on  the  scene  of 
action.  Grant  at  once  sent  Sherman  to  attack  Bragg's  right 
and  Hooker  to  gain  his  left,  while  with  Thomas's  veterans 
he  held  him  fast  in  his  lines.  Everything  fell  out  happily : 
Thomas's  men,  eager  to  show  their  courage,  carried  the 
Confederate  center  by  assault,  and  Bragg  retreated  in  con 
fusion  (November,  1863).  Sherman  then  went  to  the  relief 
of  Knoxville ;  on  his  approach  Longstreet  retired  through 
the  mountains  to  Virginia. 

Grant  had  won  the  confidence  of  the  Northern  people  by 
his  brilliant  successes.  He  was  now  made  lieutenant  gen 
eral,  and  given  command  of  all  the  Union  armies  on  both 
sides  of  the  Alleghanies  (March,  1864).  He  assumed  direct 
control  of  the  operations  in  Virginia,  and  confided  the 
leadership  of  the  armies  operating  from  Chattanooga  to  his 
tried  and  trusted  subordinate,  General  Sherman. 

365.  The  Atlanta  Campaign,  May  to  July,  1864. —The 
task  to  which  Sherman  set  himself  was  most  arduous.  Atlanta 
was  the  only  manufacturing  town  of  importance,  from  a  mili 
tary  point  of  view,  in  the  Confederacy.  It  also  was  an  impor 
tant  railway  center,  as  the  lines  from  Alabama,  Georgia, 
and  the  Carolinas  converged  there.  The  country  between 
Chattanooga  and  Atlanta  was  very  difficult  of  access  :  the 
railroad  ran  through  narrow  gorges  under  mountains,  whose 
tops,  crowned  with  artillery,  made  advance  on  that  line  impos 
sible.  The  Confederate  government  gathered  every  soldier 
who  could  be  spared  from  the  defense  of  Richmond  to 
guard  this  important  post,  and  placed  in  command  Joseph 
E.  Johnston,  of  living  Southern  commanders  second  only  to 
Lee.  To  the  conquest  of  these  seventy-five  thousand  men, 
Sherman  brought  one  hundred  thousand  veterans. 


1864]  Plan  of  Campaign  523 

Instead  of  attacking  Johnston  in  front,  Sherman  used  his 
superiority  in  numbers  to  outflank  him,  and  thus  compelled 
him  to  retreat  from  one  strong  position  to  another. 
Johnston  showed  great  ability,  but  the  skill  of  the  Union 
commanders  and  the  enthusiasm,  courage,  and  discipline  of 
the  Northern  soldiers  overbore  all  obstacles.  The  Con 
federate  government  had  never  placed  entire  confidence  in 
Johnston,  and  his  retreat  impelled  them  to  displace  him  and 
appoint  Hood  to  the  chief  command  at  the  moment  when  the 
Union  army  was  approaching  Atlanta.  Hood  was  expected 
to  fight,  and  not  to  retreat.  Again  and  again  he  attacked 
Sherman,  only  to  be  beaten  off  with  cruel  loss.  He  then 
advanced  northward  in  the  expectation  that  Sherman  would 
follow  him,  and  thus  abandon  the  conquest  of  Atlanta.  But 
the  Union  commander  contented  himself  with  sending  back 
a  portion  of  his  troops  under  Thomas  and  Schofield.  With 
the  remainder,  some  sixty  thousand  strong,  he  completed 
the  destruction  of  the  mills  and  factories  at  Atlanta,  and  set 
out  for  the  seacoast  through  the  heart  of  the  Confederacy. 

366.    Plan  of  Campaign. — The  "march  to  the  sea"  had   Strategy  of 
long  been  in  contemplation.    In  the  preceding  years,  while  the    l864- 

-,.    .    .  .  ...    .  .   „,   .  Battles  and 

Vicksburg  campaign  was  still  in  progress,  Colonel  Gnerson,  Leaders, 
with  seventeen  hundred  men,  had  ridden  from  the  Tennessee  IV,  247. 
to  Baton  Rouge.  He  reported  that  "  the  Confederacy  was  a 
mere  shell."  Apart  from  the  soldiers  in  the  front,  there  were 
almost  no  fighting  men  in  the  South.  Sherman  thought, 
and  Grant  agreed  with  him,  that  as  long  as  he  was  out  of 
the  reach  of  the  armies  under  Lee  and  Hood,  he  would  be 
perfectly  safe.  The  advantages  of  his  proposed  movement 
were  many :  in  the  first  place,  it  would  go  far  toward  con 
vincing  the  Southerners  of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resist 
ance,  and  would  probably  increase  the  opposition  to  the 
Confederate  government,  which  was  already  noticeable  in 
some  portions  of  the  South  :  in  the  second  place,  its  suc 
cessful  prosecution  would  encourage  the  people  of  the 
North,  and  might  have  an  important  effect  on  European 
public  opinion.  The  great  dangers  to  be  apprehended  were 


524 


The  Civil  War 


[§367 


Sherman's 
marches 
through 
Georgia 
and  the 
Carolinas. 
Old  South 
Leaflets, 

III,  No.  5; 
Battles  and 
Leaders, 

IV,  663 ; 
Dodge's 
View, 

279-292, 
302-309. 


from  the  two  Confederate  armies.  Grant  felt  able  to  keep 
Lee  fully  employed ;  but  could  Thomas,  without  Sherman's 
aid,  crush  Hood?  After  a  thorough  consideration  of  all 
these  points,  Grant  gave  Sherman  permission  to  go. 

367.  Sherman  and  Thomas.  —  Leaving  Atlanta,  Sherman 
and  his  men  marched  gayly  through  Georgia.  Everywhere 
as  they  passed  along  they  destroyed  the  railroad  system 
by  tearing  up  rails  and  twisting  them  into  fantastic  shapes 
by  means  of  fire.  The  soldiers  lived  off  the  country,  but, 
when  not  opposed,  otherwise  respected  the  rights  of  pri 
vate  property.  On  December  10,  1864,  Sherman  opened 
communication  with  the  Union  fleet  blockading  Savannah. 
Ten  days  later,  his  soldiers  entered  that  city.  After  resting 
his  men,  he  again  set  out  —  this  time  on  a  more  difficult 
and  dangerous  enterprise.  The  plan  now  was  that  he 
should  march  northward  through  the  Carolinas,  and  occupy 
some  position  whence  he  could  menace  Lee's  communica 
tions  with  the  Southern  states.  With  his  customary  fore 
sight  and  energy,  Sherman  started  before  he  was  expected 
to  do  so,  and  thus  gained  a  position  in  front  of  a  force  which 
had  been  gathered  to  oppose  him.  His  northward  advance 
compelled  the  evacuation  of  Charleston,  and,  on  February 
1 7,  he  entered  Columbia,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina.  Lee 
now  assumed  the  responsibility  of  appointing  Johnston  to 
command  the  defense  against  this  invasion  from  the  South. 
That  general  exercised  all  his  old-time  skill,  but  nothing 
that  he  was  able  to  do  could  stop  Sherman  :  the  latter 
reached  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina,  in  safety,  and  once 
again  opened  communication  with  the  fleet.  Meantime 
Wilmington  had  fallen,  and  Thomas  had  destroyed  Hood's 
army.  Schofield,  with  a  portion  of  the  Western  army,  joined 
Sherman  at  Goldsboro;  the  latter  was  now  (March  21, 
1865)  fully  able  to  cope  with  any  army  the  Confederates 
could  place  in  the  field. 

For  a  time,  indeed,  it  had  seemed  as  if  Thomas  would 
not  be  able  to  carry  out  the  part  of  the  plan  which  had  been 
assigned  to  him.  A  portion  of  his  force  under  Schofield 


1864] 


Grant  and  Lee 


525 


was  attacked  at  Franklin,  in  Tennessee,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  retire  to  Nashville  before  he  felt  able  to  make  a  stand 
against  Hood.  At  that  place  he  slowly  gathered  a  formi- 
dable  army  about  him,  but  refused  to  sally  forth  until  his 
preparations  were  complete.  Grant  and  the  government 
at  Washington  became  alarmed;  they  endeavored  to  stir 
him.  Thomas  would  cheerfully  hand  over  the  command  to 
another  ;  he  would  not  give  battle  until  he  was  ready.  At 
last  all  preparations  were  made  ;  he  left  his  entrenchments 
(December  15,  1864)  and  attacked  Hood.  In  two  days  he 
not  merely  routed  that  general  :  he  destroyed  his  army  as  a 
fighting  force  —  it  was  never  brought  together  again  ! 

368.  Grant  and  Lee,  1864.  —  In  May,  1864,  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  again  took  up  its  task  of  the  destruction  of  Lee's 
army,  and  the  conquest  of  Richmond.  Grant  directed  the 
campaign  in  person,  but  Meade  remained  in  direct  control 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  Northern  soldiers  num- 
bered  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  to  whom  Lee 
could  oppose  only  seventy  thousand  men.  On  May  5  the 
two  armies  came  together  in  the  Wilderness,  not  far  from 
the  fatal  field  of  Chancellorsville.  For  two  days  (May  5,  6, 
1864)  a  terrible  contest  prevailed,  and  then  Grant  moved 
by  his  left  to  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  and  here  again  a 
fearful  conflict  raged  in  the  woods  and  clearings  (May  10- 
12).  Then  again  by  a  flank  march  Grant  led  his  army  first 
to  the  North  Anna  and  then  to  Cold  Harbor,  on  the  battle 
ground  of  the  Peninsular  Campaign.  At  the  latter  place 
there  was  nearly  continuous  fighting  for  eleven  days  (May 
31  to  June  12).  Then  Grant,  unable  to  advance,  transferred 
his  army  to  the  James.  But  there  Lee  again  forestalled 
him,  and  occupied  Petersburg  on  the  Appomattox.  These 
bloody  conflicts  cost  the  Union  army  sixty  thousand  men, 
to  fourteen  thousand  for  the  Confederates.  The  Federal 
government  refilled  Grant's  shattered  ranks  ;  Sherman 
moved  northwards  ;  Thomas  destroyed  the  Confederate 
army  in  the  West,  and  there  was  no  source  from  which  the 
Confederates  could  replace  their  losses.  Grant,  seeing  clearly 


Nashville, 
December, 

Battles  and 
Leaders, 

Do'd44e°; 

view, 

293-301- 


The 
Wilderness 


Battles  and 


Dodges 
View 


526 


The  Civil   War 


[§369 


Northern 
prisoners  in 
the  South. 


the  exhaustion  of  the  fighting  population  of  the  South,  re 
fused  to  permit  any  more  exchanges  of  prisoners,  declaring 
that  a  Northern  man  who  died  in  the  horrible  prison  pens 
of  the  South  laid  down  his  life  for  the  nation's  cause  equally 
with  the  man  who  was  killed  on  the  field  of  battle.  South 
ern  writers  have  tried  to  excuse  the  cruelty  of  the  Southern 
government  toward  Union  prisoners  on  the  ground  that  it 


PRISON  1  QRING  THE  WAR. 


Sheridan  in 
the  Valley, 
1864. 


Libby  Prison 

was  inevitable  in  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  South. 
Surely  if  the  Southerners  could  no  longer  maintain  the  or 
ganization  of  a  civilized  people,  they  should  have  acknowl 
edged  that  the  cause  for  which  they  fought  was  hopeless, 
and  have  laid  down  their  arms. 

369.  Sheridan's  Valley  Campaign,  1864.  —  Grant  now 
besieged  Lee  in  his  lines  at  Petersburg.  Gradually  the  ever- 
increasing  pressure  became  unbearable,  and  Lee  sought  to 


1864]  Sheridan  s    Valley  Campaign  527 

divert  Grant  from  his  purpose  by  an  attack  on  the  Union   Battles  and 
capital.      Detaching  one   of  his  ablest  subordinates,  Jubal   ^*ade^\ 
Early,  he    directed  him  to  penetrate   the  Shenandoah  val-    Dodge's 
ley  and   seize  Washington.      Early   reached   the   defenses    View, 
of  Washington,  but  delaying  the  attack,  was  detained  long  ^-^s' 
enough  by  a  hastily  levied  force  to  enable  two  army  corps    • 
to  reach  Washington  from  the  James.      The  Confederates 
then  retired  into  the  valley.     To  combat  Early,  Grant  gave 
Sheridan  forty  thousand  men  with  orders  to  devastate  the 
valley  so  that  no  Confederate  force  could  march  through  it. 
The  campaign  which  followed  saw  each  army  successful  in 
turn.     Finally,  Sheridan  obtained  the  upper  hand,  drove  the 
Confederates  back,  and  destroyed   everything  eatable  that 
could  be  found.     He   then   rejoined   Grant  at  Petersburg 
(November,  1864). 

370.   Great  Britain  and  the  Confederate  Cruisers.  —  In  the  The 
earlier  years  of  the  war,  a  few  Southern  vessels  ran  the    Confederate 
blockade  and  began  the  destruction  of  Northern  commerce    Maciay's 
on   the    ocean.      The   most   important  of  these  were    the   Navy,  n, 
Sumter  and  the  Florida,  the  latter  a  British-built  vessel  S53-56i. 
which  was  converted  into  a  man-of-war  at  Mobile.      The 
most  famous  of  the  Confederate  cruisers,  however,  never 
entered  a  Southern  port.     This  was  the  Alabama,  built  in 
England,  on  the  Mersey,  and  permitted  to  go  to  sea  by 
the  British  government,  notwithstanding  the  protests  of  the 
American  minister  at  London,  Charles  Francis  Adams.    After 
a  most  destructive  career,  the  Alabama  was  finally  sunk  off   Kearsarge 
Cherbourg,  by  the  United  States  ship  Kearsarge,  commanded   and 
by  Captain  Winslow  (June  19,  1864).    The  two  vessels  were   Maciay's 
of  about  the  same  size  and  armament ;  but  the  guns  of  the   Navy,  II, 
Kearsarge  were  better  aimed  than  those  of  her  opponent,  £62-573. 
and  the  powder  of  the  Alabama  was  so  defective  that  such 
of  her  shot  as  reached  the  Kearsarge  did  little  damage. 

The  Confederates  also  contracted   for  the   construction  The 
of  two  powerful  ironclad   rams  in  England.     The   British   Confederate 
government  showed  no  desire  to  seize  them  before  comple-  rams- 
tion,  and  informed  Adams  that  it  could  not  interfere.     The 


528 


The  Civil   War 


[§37i 


The 


Election  of 

1864. 

Stanwood's 

Elections, 

236-252. 


American  minister  thereupon  wrote  to  Earl  Russell,  the 
British  foreign  minister :  "  It  would  be  superfluous  for  me 
to  point  out  that  this  is  war."  But  the  English  government 
had  already  awakened  to  the  danger  of  its  position  and  had 
seized  the  vessels. 

The  last  of  the  Confederate  cruisers  to  keep  the  seas  was 
the  Shenandoah.  Coaling  at  Melbourne,  she  sailed  for  the 
Shenandoah.  northern  Pacific  and  there  destroyed  the  American  whaling 
fleet  after  the  surrender  of  Lee  and  Johnston.  The  inaction 
of  the  British  government  on  all  these  occasions  aroused 
intense  resentment  in  the  United  States,  and  became  the 
subject  of  negotiation  and  arbitration  (p.  547). 

371.  Lincoln's  Re-election,  1864.  —  In  tne  Northern  states 
were  to  be  found  many  persons  who  were  actively  opposed 
to  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war.  These  were  mostly 
Democrats,  and  they  nominated  General  McClellan  for  the 
presidency.  The  extremists  among  the  Republicans,  who 
thought  the  administration  was  not  sufficiently  vigorous  in 
its  policy,  especially  as  to  slavery,  nominated  John  C.  Fre"- 
mont.  Lincoln  was  nominated  by  a  convention  composed 
of  Republicans  and  of  those  Northern  Democrats  who  were 
heartily  in  favor  of  the  maintenance  of  the  Union.  The 
convention  placed  a  Democrat,  Andrew  Johnson,  a  Union 
man  from  Tennessee,  on  the  ticket  with  Lincoln,  as  candi 
date  for  the  vice-presidency.  This  convention  favored  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  and  a  continuance  of  a 
national  policy  as  to  public  improvements.  Fremont  with 
drew  ;  the  Democrats  carried  three  states,  —  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  and  Kentucky ;  Lincoln  and  Johnson  were  elected 
by  two  hundred  and  twelve  electoral  votes  out  of  a  total  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty-three,  their  majority  in  the  popular 
vote  being  more  than  four  hundred  thousand.  The  people 
of  the  North  had  decided  by  an  overwhelming  vote  that  the 
war  should  be  fought  to  the  end.  Preparations  were  at 
once  made  for  its  prosecution  on  a  larger  scale  than  ever 
before.  The  Union  army  steadily  increased  in  size  until  May, 
1865,  when  over  a  million  men  were  on  its  muster  rolls. 


1865]  The  Surrender  of  Appomattox  529 

For  the  South,  any  such  display  of  vigor  was  out  of  the 
question.  The  Confederacy  was  a  shell :  there  were  no 
more  white  men  to  be  forced  into  the  ranks ;  there  were  no 
more  arms  or  military  equipments ;  there  was  hardly  food 
enough  at  the  front  for  the  soldiers  already  in  the  field.  The 
Congress  at  Richmond  passed  a  bill  for  the  employment  of 
slaves  as  soldiers ;  it  was  proposed  to  arm  at  least  one  regi 
ment  with  pikes. 

372.  The  Surrender  at  Appomattox,  1865.  —  As  soon  as  it  Appomattox, 
was  possible  to  move,  the  Northern  soldiers  began  the  final  APril- 1865- 

.       ,  ,    Battles  and 

campaign  of  the  war.  Grant  had  now  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  men  to  Lee's  sixty  thousand.  On  the  first 
day  of  April,  1865,  Sheridan,  with  a  strong  force  of  cavalry 
and  infantry,  gained  a  position  at  Five  Forks  which  com-  310-319. 
manded  the  roads  to  the  rear  of  Richmond  and  Petersburg, 
and  Lee  could  not  drive  him  back.  Lee  therefore  withdrew 
his  army  from  his  works  and  endeavored  to  escape  by  the 
valley  of  the  Appomattox  to  the  mountains,  in  the  hope,  per 
haps,  of  combining  his  troops  with  the  force  under  Johnston's 
command.  At  last,  the  Northern  soldiers  were  too  quick 
for  him.  Sheridan,  with  the  cavalry  and  the  Fifth  Corps, 
outmarched  the  Confederates ;  the  remainder  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  pressed  on  their  flank  and  rear.  On  April 
7,  1865,  the  van  of  the  starving  army  of  northern  Virginia 
reached  the  vicinity  of  Appomattox  Court  House.  A  body 
of  dismounted  Union  cavalry  barred  the  way.  The  Con 
federates  deployed  to  brush  aside  this  obstacle,  when  the 
cavalrymen,  withdrawing  to  one  side,  disclosed  an  infantry 
line  of  battle.  Farther  progress  was  impossible,  and  Lee 
surrendered  (April  9,  1865).  The  terms  given  to  the  South 
erners  were  singularly  liberal :  the  Confederates  were  to  lay 
down  their  arms  and  cease  from  acts  of  hostility.  Later  on 
an  attempt  was  made  to  punish  the  politicians  who  had  led 
the  South  to  secession  and  ruin,  but  that  was  abandoned. 

373.  Assassination  of  Lincoln,  April  14,  1865.  —  On  April 
14,  the  people  of  the  North  were  aglow  with  enthusiasm 
over  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army ; 


530 


The  Civil   War 


[§374 


Assassina 
tion  of 
Lincoln. 


Cost  of  the 
war. 
Dodge's 
View, 
ch.  Ixi. 


on  the  morning  of  the  i5th,  they  were  plunged  into  a  depth 
of  gloom  such  as  had  never  been  known  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States.  On  the  evening  of  the  i4th,  Lincoln  was 
shot  by  a  crazed  sympathizer  with  the  cause  of  secession 
and  slavery,  and  an  attempt  was  also  made  on  Seward's 
life.  With  Lincoln  perished  the  one  man  able  and  willing 
to  restrain  the  Northern  extremists.  Andrew  Johnson  be 
came  President,  and  the  policy  of  the  government  soon 
underwent  a  great  change  (p.  537). 

374.  Cost  of  the  War.  —  The  War  for  the  Union  cost  the 
nation,  North  and  South,  the  lives  of  nearly  a  million  men  : 
about  ninety-five  thousand  Northern  soldiers  were  killed  on 
the  field  of  battle,  or  were  fatally  wounded  and  died  in  hospi 
tals  ;  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  more  succumbed 
to  disease  while  on  the  army  rolls.  To  these  figures  must  be 
added  those  who  died  from  accident,  disappeared  perma 
nently,  or  died  in  Southern  prisons  or  in  consequence  of  dis 
ease  or  wounds  contracted  while  in  the  service ;  the  total  of 
those  who  perished  from  all  these  causes  is  not  far  from  one 
half  a  million ;  about  as  many  more  Southerners  perished 
from  similar  causes.  Hundreds  of  thousands  more  con 
tracted  disorders  or  received  wounds  while  in  the  service, 
which  did  not  lead  directly  to  death  but  which  shortened 
life  or  made  it  wretched.  The  total  money  cost  of  the  war  to 
the  Union  government  was  about  three  and  one  half  thousand 
million  dollars  —  excluding  expenses  incurred  by  states  and 
municipalities,  which  amounted,  in  all  probability,  at  least 
to  three  hundred  millions  more.  Adding  to  this  the  amount 
paid  and  to  be  paid  in  pensions  to  those  who  risked  their 
lives  and  the  well-being  of  their  families  for  the  Union  cause, 
and  the  amount  of  private  property  destroyed  during  the 
conflict,  the  war  for  the  Union  cost  not  less  than  ten  thou 
sand  million  dollars. 


Questions  and  Topics  531 

SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS   AND  TOPICS 

§§  334-345-    THE  BEGINNING  OF  CIVIL  STRIFE 

a.  Do  you  consider  that   Lincoln  or  Washington   best   represents 
American  life? 

b.  Upon  what  premises  did  Lincoln  base  his  conclusion  that  "  the 
Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution"? 

c.  Give  as  many  facts  as  possible  to  support  the  statement,  "in  the 
end  they  collapsed  as  no  other  conquered  people  have  done  in  historical 
times." 

d.  What  is  meant  by  the  statement,  "  there  are  few  things,  however, 
so  unreliable  as  statistics  "  ? 

e.  Why  did  the  Confederates  have  "superior  marching  qualities"? 

f.  Compare  the  uprising  of  the  Northern  and  the  Southern  people. 
In  which  section  was  there  greater  unanimity? 

g.  Draw  an  imaginary  picture  of  what  might  have  happened  had 
the  "border  states"  seceded. 

h.  Compare  the  war  policies  of  the  North  and  the  South.  Was  it 
possible  for  the  South  to  have  pursued  a  different  policy? 

i.  The  national  banking  system:  why  was  it  established?  Describe 
it.  What  changes  might  now  be  made  to  adapt  it  to  present  condi 
tions? 

j.  Is  it  true  that  the  blockade  "  was  the  chief  factor  "  in  the  defeat 
of  the  South?  Give  your  reasons. 

§§  346,  347,  349-    THE  THEATER  OF  WAR 

a.  Draw  three  maps  showing  (i)  the  theater  of  war  as  a  whole, 
(2)  the  East,  (3)  the  West  (Dodge's  Bird's-Eye  View).    Describe  by 
recitation  lines  of  communication  and  lines  of  defense. 

b.  Draw  two  maps,  one  representing  the  theater  of  war  in  Virginia 
during  the  Revolution,  the  other,  during  the  Civil  War.     Enter  fully 
upon  each  name  and  date  of  battles;    what  points  of  similarity  and 
dissimilarity  strike  you? 

§§  35°>  37°-     RELATIONS  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN 

a.  Do  you  consider  the  bitterness  of  feeling  towards  Great  Britain 
justifiable?      Give  your  reasons.     Has  Great    Britain    done   anything 
since  1865  to  lessen  this  feeling? 

b.  Why  were  "  free  workingmen  all  the  world  over  "  interested  in 
the  struggle  between  the  North  and  the  South? 

c.  Who  formulates  the  rules  of  International  Law?     What  is  meant 
by  "  according  belligerent  rights  "?     How  does  it  differ  from  "  recogni- 


532  The  Civil  War 

tion  of  independence"?      Why  were  both  Great  Britain  and  France 
opposed  to  nationalism  in  the  United  States? 

d.    What  argument  in  favor  of  democracy  do  you  find  in  §  350? 

§§  359»  36°-    SLAVE  EMANCIPATION 

a.  (i)  Trace  in  detail  Lincoln's  policy  as  to  slavery.    (2)  Describe 
carefully  the  position  of  the  Republican  party  as  to  slavery.      (3)   Was 
the  war  begun  to  free  the  slaves?      (4)   Would  you  have  advocated 
war  in   1861   to  secure  immediate  emancipation?     (The  first  three  of 
these  questions  may  be  used  as  Topics  for  Individual  Investigation.) 

b.  Discuss  the  constitutionality  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 
Is  there  any  limit  to  the  President's  war  powers?     In  how  far  do  the 
proclamations  of  a  President  have  legal  force? 

§§  363»  37 *•     NORTHERN  OPPOSITION 

a.  Compare  the  mode  of  recruiting  during  the  Revolutionary  War 
and  during  the  Civil  War. 

b.  Why  was  Andrew  Johnson  nominated  for  Vice-President? 

c.  Compare  the  votes  cast  in  1856,  in  1860,  and  in  1864.     What 
changes  of  sentiment  can  you  discern? 

d.  Does  the  Constitution  authorize  Congress  to  draft  soldiers? 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

Subjects  for  special  study  in  secondary  authorities:  (i)  assign  to 
each  student  a  campaign  or  a  battle  to  be  studied  in  Dodge's  Bird's- 
Eye  View  and  in  Battles  and  Leaders,  or  in  other  convenient  books;  the 
report  should  include  a  map  or  plan  of  the  campaign  or  battle;  (2)  the 
part  played  by  the  "  Old  Northwest "  in  the  war ;  (3)  the  part  played 
by  the  "  border  states,"  or  by  any  one  of  them;  (4)  development  dur 
ing  the  Civil  War  of  the  railroad  system,  or  the  action  of  the  homestead 
law,  or  the  exploitation  of  the  mineral  resources,  or  the  progress  of 
mechanical  invention,  or  industrial  expansion;  (5)  the  attitude  towards 
the  United  States  of  the  leading  nations  of  Europe;  (6)  the  questions 
of  international  law  which  grew  out  of  the  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT,  1865- 1900 
Books  for  Consultation 

General  Readings.  — Johnston's  American  Politics,  207-279;  Wil 
son's  Division  and  Reunion,  254-299. 

Special  Accounts.  —  Lalor's  Cyclopedia  articles  by  Johnston  ; 
Elaine's  Twenty  Years;  Landon's  Constitutional  History ;  Sterne's 
Constitutional  History  ;  Andrews's  Last  Quarter  Century.  Lives  of  the 
leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §  25.  On  the  currency  see  Walker's  Political 
Economy  and  Laughlin's  Political  Economy. 

Sources. — McPherson's  Handbooks;  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclope 
dia;  MulhalFs  Dictionary  of  Statistics;  Tenth  Census;  Shaler's 
United  States.  Writings  of  leading  statesmen,  Guide,  §§  32,  33. 

Bibliography.  —  Gordy  and  Twitchell,  Pathfinder  in  American 
History. 

Illustrative  Material.  —  Whittier's  Democracy  ;  Tourgee's  A  Fool's 
Errand  and  Bricks  'without  Straw ;  Hale's  Mr.  Merriani's  Scholars. 

NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT,    1865-1897 

375.  Return  to  Peace  Conditions. — The  war  was  over:  Return  to 
its  close  brought  with  it  new  conditions  and  new  problems  P^e  ( 
whose  solution  has  been  most  difficult.  The  enormous  mili 
tary  and  naval  forces  were  to  be  disbanded  ;  wounded  and 
disabled  Union  soldiers  and  sailors  with  their  families  were 
to  be  cared  for ;  an  enormous  debt  was  to  be  paid  off; 
emancipation  was  to  be  completed,  and  the  negroes  pro 
tected  in  their  new  freedom  ;  and  vexatious  political  ques 
tions  were  to  be  settled.  All  these  matters  were  pressing, 
but  on  many  of  them  it  was  nearly  impossible  to  reach  agree 
ment.  Above  all,  it  was  necessary  for  the  government  and 
the  people  to  abandon  extravagant  habits  which  had  grown 

533 


534  National  Development  [§  376 

up  during  the  war,  and  once  again  consent  to  live  the 
slower  and  more  commonplace  existence  which  belongs  to 
times  of  peace.  The  stimulating  legislation  of  war  time, 
and  the  energy  of  the  Northern  people,  had  opened  up 
new  sources  of  wealth,  and  greatly  extended  the  old  forms 
of  production.  All  these  were  now  to  be  protected  and 
extended,  and  the  Southern  people  induced  to  gain  their 
share  in  this  vast  material  growth. 

The  history  of  the  period  extending  from  the  close  of  the 
war  to  1890  naturally  divides  itself  into  two  parts  :  one  deal 
ing  with  political  problems  mainly,  the  other  having  to  do 
with  industrial  progress.  Of  the  two  the  latter  is  by  far  the 
more  important;  it  deserves  the  most  careful  study  from 
every  one  taking  part  in  the  government  of  the  country, 
either  directly  as  a  voter  or  indirectly  as  influencing  the  vote 
of  another  person.  It  will  be  convenient  first  to  consider 
the  political  and  constitutional  history. 

Reduction  of  376.  The  Army  and  Navy.  —  Even  before  the  surrender 
army  and  at  Appomattox,  but  when  the  exhaustion  of  the  South  had 
become  apparent,  the  government's  recruiting  offices  had 
been  closed  and  a  stop  put  to  further  enlistments.  As  soon 
as  possible  after  Lee's  surrender,  the  discharging  of  the 
soldiers  was  begun,  and  it  was  pushed  on  with  vigor.  In 
six  months'  time  eight  hundred  thousand  soldiers  had  been 
mustered  out  of  the  service,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year 
(1865)  only  fifty  thousand  remained  on  the  government's 
rolls.  Since  then,  the  number  has  been  still  further  dimin 
ished,  until  in  1890  there  were  only  twenty-five  thousand 
soldiers  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  The  militia 
organization  of  the  states  has  been  maintained  on  a  much 
better  basis  than  before  the  war.  There  is  more  uniformity 
in  drill  and  accoutrements,  and  the  discipline  is  much  better. 
Military  traditions  have  been  kept  alive  by  societies  of 
veterans,  as  the  "  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,"  and  other 
organizations  based  on  the  military  units  of  the  Union  armies, 
as  the  "  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland."  There 
can  be  little  question  that  the  country  is  now  better  pre- 


1 865]  The    War  Debt  535 

pared  for  war  than  at  any  time  between  the  Revolution  and 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 

Reduction   of   the  navy  also  went    on  with  vigor.     The   Maclay's 
men  were  discharged  and  the  ships  were  laid  up  at  the  gov-   Navy^}1' 
eminent  yards  or  were  sold  out  of  the  service.     For  years 
the  navy  steadily  declined  in  efficiency,  until  the  govern 
ment  possessed  no  vessels  able  to  cope  with  the   modern 
ships   of  even  the  lesser  American  powers,   as  Chile.     In 
1884-85   the  beginning  of  a  new  navy  was  made.     For  in   The  new 
those  years  four  vessels  were  launched.     They  were  built  on   navy- 
modern  plans  and  proved  to  be  serviceable.     From  time  to 
time  other  vessels  were  built,  until  there  came  into  being  a 
small  but  very  effective  navy.     A  scheme  of  a  naval  militia 
was  also  set  on  foot. 

The  Union  soldiers  and  sailors  returned  to  private  life,  Pensions. 
honored  and  respected  by  all.  Mindful  of  its  obligations, 
Congress,  by  law,  has  provided  pensions  for  those  veterans 
whom  wounds  or  the  inevitable  hardships  of  military  service 
have  made  unable  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and  has  also  made 
provision  for  those  dependent  upon  them.  The  expense  of 
this  pension  system  at  one  time  was  about  one  hundred  and 
forty  million  dollars  a  year. 

377.  The  War  Debt.  —  At  the  close  of  the  war  the  interest- 
bearing  debt  amounted  to  two  thousand  four  hundred  million  debt- 
dollars,  with  an  annual  interest  charge  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions.  In  addition,  there  was  the  non-interest-bear 
ing  debt  to  the  amount  of  nearly  five  hundred  millions  more. 
This  was  in  the  form  of  paper  money,  issued  directly  by  the 
government.  The  interest-bearing  debt  was  in  the  form  of 
bonds  which  had  been  floated  at  very  high  rates  of  interest 
and  paid  for  in  the  government's  own  depreciated  currency. 
The  disband m en t  of  the  military  and  naval  forces  decreased 
the  amount  the  government  was  obliged  to  pay  out  day  by 
day,  and  made  it  possible  for  it  at  once  to  begin  to  pay  off 
the  debt.  Before  the  end  of  1865  thirty-five  millions  were 
paid  off,  and  the  process  went  steadily  on.  The  internal  rev 
enue  taxes  bore  heavily  on  industry,  and,  as  soon  as  possible, 


536 


National  Development 


[§378 


they  were  either   lowered  or  abolished.     This,   of  course, 
reduced  the  income   of  the  government  and  retarded  the 
payment  of  the  debt.     In  1869  Congress  took  up  the  mat 
ter  in  earnest.     The  old  arguments  a?  Washington's  time 
were   repeated.     It  was  said  that  the  obligations  had  not 
produced  their  face  value  to  the  government,  and  might  be 
The  nation's    redeemed  at  less  than  par.     Butad^  necessity  of  protecting 
credit.  the  government's  credit  prevail<Spas  it  had  in  the  earlier 

days  (p.  266).  Congress  now  rj&ssed  an  act  "to  restore 
the  public  credit."  In  this  it  pledged  itself  to  redeem  the 
public  obligations  in  coin  at  their  f*ce  value.  The  credit 
of  the  government  at  once  improve^  and  enabled  it  to 
replace  the  bonds  bearing  high  rates^pf  interest  by  those 
bearing  much  lower  rates.  This  set  free  large  sums  with 
which  to  pay  off  bonds,  and  before  1880  more  than  eight 
hundred  million  dollars  were  devoted  to  this  purpose.  In 
1890  the  amount  of  the  interest-bearing  debt  had  decreased 
to  a  little  over  one  thousand  million,  dollars,  and  the  total 
debt,  including  the  paper  money  but  minus  the  cash  in 
the  treasury,  was  very  nearly  one  thousand  four  hundred 
million. 

The  government  also  greatly  increased  its  credit  by  re 
suming  payments  in  gold  (1879).  Previously,  in  1871, 
silver  was  withdrawn  from  circulation  as  money  except  in 
fractions  of  the  dollar.  To  many  persons  in  the  poorer 
sections  of  the  country  this  seemed  to  be  an  act  favoring 
the  people  of  the  richer  sections.  In  1878  they  secured 
the  passage  of  a  law  requiring  the  coinage  of  silver  dol 
lars  at  the  rate  of  two  millions  a  month.  Later  on,  this 
policy  was  extended,  until  the  amount  of  silver  money 
in  circulation  threatened  to  drive  gold  money  out  of  the 
country. 

378.  Lincoln's  Southern  Policy.  —  When  the  war  broke 
out,  Lincoln,  and  the  Republicans  generally,  had  denied  the 
possibility  of  a  state  seceding  and  leaving  the  Union.  The 
people  of  the  states  which  had  passed  secession  ordinances 
were  now  beaten  and  crushed  into  subjection.  Meantime, 


1865]  Lincoln  s  Southern  Policy  537 

a  new  element  had  come  into  the  question :  the  President, 
by  virtue  of  the  war  power,  had  issued  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  —  which  had  certainly  not  abolished  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  had  a  legal  existence, 
although  it  had  operated  to  free  the  negroes  then  in  bond 
age  in  a  large  part  of  the  South.  To  settle  the  slavery  ques 
tion  forever,  Congress  had  passed  the  Thirteenth  Amendment, 
which  was  now  (1865)  before  the  state  legislatures  for  adop 
tion.  What  was  the  relation  of  the  states  which  had  at-  Constitu- 
tempted  to  secede  to  the  Union  and  to  this  amendment?  t-.onai  posi- 
Were  "  states  "  indestructible  whether  in  or  out  of  the  Union  ?  seceded 
Or  had  insurrection  reduced  these  states  to  the  standing  of  states, 
territories?  If  the  former  were  the  case,  the  consent  of 
some  of  the  states  which  had  attempted  to  secede  was  nec 
essary  to  the  ratification  of  the  amendment ;  if  the  latter 
were  the  case,  might  not  Congress  impose  the  amendment 
on  the  states  as  the  price  of  readmission?  The  problem  of 
reconstruction  was  still  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
the  chief  executive  was  no  longer  a  man  in  whose  judgment 
the  Northern  people  had  every  confidence,  or  one  who  pos 
sessed  great  power  in  dealing  with  men.  On  the  contrary, 
the  White  House  was  now  occupied  by  a  Southern  man,  who  President 
had  not  the  slightest  tact,  and  in  whom  the  people  of  the  Johnson- 
North  had  no  confidence  at  all.  This  was  due  in  great  meas 
ure  to  faults  in  Johnson's  character,  which  were  rendered  the 
more  conspicuous  because  of  their  absence  from  Lincoln's. 
Johnson's  motives  were  good,  his  patriotism  unquestionable, 
and  his  judgment  usually  sound  ;  but  he  obscured  all  those 
good  points  and  ruined  his  influence  with  the  people  by 
coarse  bitter  invectives  against  all  those  with  whom  he  could 
not  agree. 

In  an  address  (April  n,  1865),  Lincoln  set  forth  his   Lincoln's  re- 
ideas  on  the  subject  of  reconstruction.      He  thought  that   constructic:i 
the  "  question  whether  the  seceded  states,  so  called,  are  in 
the  Union  or  out  of  it"  was  "bad  as  the  basis  of  contro 
versy,  and  good  for  nothing  at  all  —  a  mere  pernicious  ab 
straction."   The  states  in  question  were  "out  of  their  proper 


538  National  Development  [§  379 

practical  relation  with  the  Union,"  and  the  sole  object  of 
those  in  authority  should  be  "  to  again  get  them  into  that 
proper  practical  relation."  He  believed  that  it  was  possible 
to  restore  such  relation  "  without  deciding  or  even  consider 
ing  whether  those  states  have  ever  been  out  of  the  Union." 
Acting  on  these  ideas,  he  had  previously  (December,  1863) 
issued  a  proclamation  offering  pardon  to  all  persons,  except 
certain  classes,  who  should  take  an  oath  to  support  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  laws  and  proclamations  as  to  the  emanci 
pation  of  slaves.  He  further  promised  that  as  soon  as  one 
tenth  of  the  voters  in  any  one  state  should  take  this  oath 
and  set  up  a  republican  form  of  government  in  that  state, 
the  federal  government  would  recognize  it  as  the  legal  state 
government.  The  question  of  admission  of  the  senators 
and  representatives  from  such  a  state,  however,  was  neces 
sarily  reserved  to  Congress.  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and  Ten 
nessee  were  reorganized  on  this  basis  in  1864  ;  but  Congress 
refused  to  receive  the  electoral  votes  of  Louisiana  and  Ten 
nessee  in  the  autumn  of  that  year. 

Johnson's  re-  379.  Johnson's  Reconstruction  Policy,  1865.  —  President 
construction  Johnson  now  (1865)  proceeded  to  reorganize  the  other 
states  on  the  above  lines,  and  had  succeeded  in  every  case 
when  Congress  came  together  in  December,  1865.  The  new 
state  governments  had  adopted  the  Thirteenth  Amendment, 
and  it  was  declared  in  force  (June)  ;  slavery  was  extinct  in 
the  United  States,  even  in  Kentucky  and  Delaware.  These 
states  had  not  been  affected  by  the  Emancipation  Procla 
mation,  had  not  adopted  any  plan  of  emancipation,  and  had 
refused  to  ratify  the  Thirteenth  Amendment.  The  legislatures 
of  the  reorganized  Southern  states  had  not,  however,  merely 
ratified  the  amendment  and  formed  state  constitutions,— 
especially  Missouri  and  South  Carolina,  —  they  had  also 
passed  many  laws  which  went  far  toward  destroying  the 
effects  of  emancipation.  These  provided  that  negroes  who 
would  not  work  should  be  regarded  as  "vagrants"  and 
compelled  to  labor.  In  fact,  had  these  laws  been  carried 
out,  forced  labor  would  have  been  practically  re-established. 


1865]  The  Freedmeris  Bureau  539 

The  new  Congress  met  in  December,  1865  ;  the  Southern   Congress 
states  were  omitted  from  the  roll  call,  and  it  soon  became   and  recon- 

.    .  struction, 

evident  that  there  was  a  great  difference  of  opinion  be-  !86S-66. 
tween  the  Republicans  who  held  control  of  Congress  and  Johnston's 
the  President  on  the  matter  of  reconstruction.  The  feeling  ^"^J"1 1V' 
of  the  Northern  congressmen  toward  the  South  was  largely 
determined  by  the  action  of  the  new  Southern  legislatures 
toward  the  negroes.  The  Republicans  held  a  two-thirds 
majority  in  both  houses,  and  were  therefore  able,  when 
united,  to  override  the  veto  of  the  President.  The  theory 
soon  adopted  by  the  ruling  party  was  that  the  insurrection 
in  the  South  had  suspended  for  them  all  the  body  of  federal 
law,  and  they  could  only  be  readmitted  to  the  enjoyment  of 
the  privileges  of  states  by  Congress,  —  in  other  words,  they 
were  practically  in  the  situation  of  territories.,  Johnson,  in 
stead  of  trying  to  calm  the  rising  spirit  of  hostility  to  his 
measures,  lost  no  opportunity  to  denounce  Congress,  declar 
ing  that  it  was  no  Congress,  as  the  Southern  members  were 
not  allowed  to  take  their  places.  The  elections  of  the  next 
year  (1866)  returned  a  large  Republican  majority  to  Con 
gress  ;  and  it  thus  fell  out  that  through  the  whole  of  John 
son's  term  his  veto  amounted  to  little,  as  in  almost  every 
case  a  two-thirds  majority  in  both  houses  was  able  and 
willing  to  pass  its  original  measure  over  the  President's 
opposition. 

380.  The  Freedmen's  Bureau.  —  In  March,  1865,  Congress  The  Freed- 
had  established,  under  the  direction  of  the  War  Department, 
a  bureau  to  provide  for  sick  and  helpless  freed  men  for  the 
term  of  one  year.  The  officers  of  the  bureau  also  did  what 
they  could  to  settle  disputes  between  the  employers  of  labor 
in  the  South  and  their  former  slaves.  In  this  way  the  bureau 
did  much  to  soften  the  severity  of  the  operation  of  the 
forced  labor  laws.  In  February,  1866,  Congress  passed 
a  bill  continuing  it  for  two  years,  and  greatly  enlarging  its 
field  of  activity.  This  was  opposed  to  the  President's  re 
construction  policy ;  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill,  and  enough 
members  of  Congress  were  friendly  to  him  to  make  it  impos- 


men  s 
Bureau,  1865, 


54O  National  Development  [§  381 

sible  to  pass  it  over  his  veto.  The  breach  between  the 
President  and  the  Republican  party  now  rapidly  widened, 
mainly  owing  to  Johnson's  intemperate  language.  In  July, 
1866,  another  bill  was  passed,  continuing  the  bureau  for  two 
years,  providing  for  the  education  of  the  blacks,  giving  the 
proceeds  of  confiscated  lands  for  that  purpose,  and  also 
providing  that  the  rights  of  the  freedmen  should  be  enforced 
by  the  army.  Johnson  promptly  vetoed  this  measure,  and 
it  was  at  once  passed  over  his  veto.  The  Freedrnen's  Bureau 
was  not  finally  abolished  until  1870. 

Fourteenth          38i.  The  Fourteenth  Amendment.  —  In  March,  1866,  after 
1866  '    Jonnson's  first  veto  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill,  Congress 

passed  a  Civil  Rights  Bill  for  the  protection  of  the  emanci 
pated  negroes.  This  gave  jurisdiction  in  cases  arising  under 
it  to  the  federal  courts  alone.  Johnson  vetoed  this  measure 
on  the  ground,  among  others,  that  it  was  unconstitutional. 
Congress  passed  the  bill  over  the  President's  veto.  The 
question  of  the  constitutionality  of  the  measure  was  set  at 
rest  by  the  adoption  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  Sec 
tion  i  of  this  amendment  provided  that  "  all  persons  born 
or  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and  subject  to  the  juris 
diction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
state  wherein  they  reside."  This  was  aimed  at  the  opinion 
expressed  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case 
(p.  448).  The  first  section  also  forbade  the_  states  to 
abridge  in  any  way  the  rights  of  the  citizens.  Section  2 
provided  that  representation  in  Congress  should  be  appor 
tioned  among  the  states  according  to  their  respective  num 
bers.  Whenever  any  state  should  deny  the  franchise  to  any 
citizens,  except  for  "  participation  in  rebellion  or  other 
crime,"  the  representation  of  that  state  should  be  dimin 
ished  accordingly.  The  third  section  excluded  from  the 
national  services  all  persons  who,  "  having  previously  taken 
an  oath  ...  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  shall  have  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against 
the  same."  Congress,  however,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  each 
house,  might  remove  this  disability.  Section  4  guaranteed 


1867]  The  Reconstruction  Acts  541 

the  validity  of  the  federal  debt,  and  declared  all  debts 
incurred  in  support  of  "  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the 
United  States  "  to  be  null  and  void. 

Congress  proposed  this  amendment  to  the  states  in  June, 
1866.  Tennessee,  which  had  already  agreed  to  the  Thir 
teenth  Amendment,  accepted  this  one  also ;  the  other 
Southern  states  rejected  it. 

382.   The  Reconstruction  Acts,  1867.  —  When   Congress  The  Recon- 
met  in  December,  1866,  it  was  known  that  the  Southern   ^™cti°n 
states  had  rejected  the   Fourteenth  Amendment.     It  was  Johnston's 
also  certain  that  the  Northern  states,  by  returning  a  strong    Orations,  IV, 
Republican  majority  to  Congress  in  the  preceding  Novem-   I 
ber,  had  given  a  strong  approval  to  the  congressional  plan 
of  reconstruction.     Inspired  by  the  action  of  the  Northern 
and  Southern  states,  Congress  hastened  to  complete  this 
work  with  or  without  President   Johnson's  consent.     The 
Tenure  of  Office  Act  limited  the  President's  power  of  re 
moval    of    government   officials ;    another    act    established 
universal  manhood  suffrage  as  the  condition  of  the  admis 
sion  of  Nebraska.     Both  were  passed  over  the  President's 
veto,  as  was  the  Reconstruction  Act,  which  became  law  on 
March  2,  1867.    According  to  this  last  act  and  supplemental 
acts  enacted  by  the  new  Congress,  the  states  which  had 
passed  ordinances  of  secession,  save  Tennessee,  were  formed 
into  five  military  districts.     Each  district  was  placed  under 
the  rule  of  an  army  officer  assigned  to  that  duty  by  the 
President.     These  military  commanders  were  to   exercise   Process  of 
wide  discretion ;  they  were  to  respect  such  state  laws  only    . 
as  were  not  hostile  to  the  rights  of  the  freedmen.     Further 
more,  they  were  to  register  as  voters  all  men  of  twenty-one 
years  and  upwards,  save  those  who  would  be  excluded  from 
the  franchise  by  the  proposed  Fourteenth  Amendment,  and 
those  who  had  committed  crime  other  than  participation  in 
rebellion.     The  requirement  of  residence  in  any  one  state 
to  acquire  the  franchise  was  fixed  at  one  year,  which  was 
the  usual  condition  in  Northern  states.     These  conditions 
practically  excluded  from  the  franchise  the  old  white  popu- 


reconstruc- 


542  National  Development  [§  382 

lation  of  the  South,  and  gave  it  to  the  blacks  and  to  white 
immigrants  from  the  North.  The  latter  came  in  large 
numbers,  bent  on  making  fortunes  on  easy  terms.  They 
had  no  intention  of  permanently  residing  in  the  South,  and 
were  not  overburdened  with  much  in  the  way  of  baggage. 
Indeed,  one  carpet-bag  frequently  sufficed  to  hold  the  be 
longings  of  each  of  these  Northern  immigrants,  and  they 
were  hence  termed  "  the  carpet-baggers."  Some  of  them 
were  high-minded  men  of  ability ;  but,  for  the  most  part, 
they  were  designing  persons,  whose  previous  careers  had 
not  been  successful.  They  soon  acquired  a  complete  as 
cendency  over  the  freedmen,  and,  for  a  time,  misruled  the 
South  to  their  own  advantage: 

The  voting  list  having  been  made  up  as  described  in  the 
preceding  paragraph,  the  process  of  reconstruction  might 
be  proceeded  with,  (i)  The  voters  in  any  one  state  should 

lect  delegates  to  a  constitutional  convention,  who  (2)  should 
frame  a  state  constitution  on  the  basis  of  manhood  suffrage 

—  excepting  those  excluded  by  the  proposed  amendment. 
(3)  The  constitution  should  then  be  submitted  to  the  reg 
istered  voters  for  ratification ;  (4)  the  constitution  being 
accepted,  it  then  became  the  duty  of  the  voters  to  elect  a 
legislature,  which  (5)  should  ratify  the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment,  All  these  steps  being  accomplished  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  federal  government,  the  representatives  of  the  state 
would  be  admitted  to  Congress,  and  the  process  of  recon 
struction  would  be  complete.  The  government  reserved 
the  right,  however,  to  interfere  with  this  process  at  any 
stage,  and  compel  the  proceedings  to  be  gone  through  with 
again  from  the  beginning.  Under  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
all  the  Southern  states  which  had  seceded  in  1 860-61  re- 
entered  the  Union,  with  the  exception  of  Tennessee,  which 
was  already  admitted,  Georgia,  which  had  been  refused 
admission  when  her  legislature  declared  negroes  ineligible 
to  office,  and  Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas,  because  they 
had  declined  to  accept  constitutions  conferring  the  suffrage 
on  the  blacks. 


1867]  Foreign  Relations  543 

383.  Impeachment  of  President  Johnson,   1868.  —  Until   impeach- 
1867  it  had  generally  been  held   that   the   President,  who   ment  of 
shared  the  power  of  appointment  with  the  Senate,  had  abso-    I868< 
lute  power  of  removal.     In  that  year,  however,  Congress,  by 
passing  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  over  Johnson's  veto,  sought 

to  make  removals  also  contingent  on  the  approval  of  the 
Senate.  In  1867  the  President  demanded  the  resignation  of 
Stanton,  Lincoln's  War  Secretary,  who  still  held  office,  and 
was  not  in  sympathy  with  his  new  chief;  Stanton  refused  to 
resign.  Finally,  Johnson  removed  him,  in  spite  of  the  Ten 
ure  of  Office  Act,  which  he  regarded  as  unconstitutional. 
Stanton  appealed  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  that 
body  impeached  the  President  for  disregarding  the  law. 
The  trial  lasted  from  March  to  May,  1868,  when  the  Senate 
failed  to  convict  Johnson  by  a  vote  of  thirty-five  to  nineteen 
—  two-thirds  not  voting  for  conviction.  Johnson,  no 
doubt,  was  right  in  his  interpretation  of  the  Constitution ; 
it  is  to  be  regretted,  however,  that  while  the  impeachment 
proceedings  were  going  on  he  continued  his  bitter  attacks 
on  his  political  opponents.  In  March,  1869,  his  stormy 
term  of  office  came  to  a  close,  and  General  Grant  succeeded 
him  as  President. 

384.  Foreign  Relations,  1865-69.  —  While  the  Civil ,War  The  French 
was  still  in  progress,  and  the  United  States  was  practically   in  Mexico, 
powerless  to  enforce  the  principles  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 

Great  Britain,  France,  and  Spain  joined  together  to  coerce 
Mexico  into  a  payment  of  her  national  debt.  Great  Britain 
and  Spain  remained  members  of  this  curious  league  for  a 
short  time  only.  The  French,  left  to  themselves,  overran 
Mexico,  and  instituted  an  empire  in  that  country,  with  an 
Austrian  archduke,  Maximilian,  as  Emperor.  This  action 
of  France  aroused  great  indignation  in  the  United  States. 
Napoleon  III,  Emperor  of  the  French,  was  friendly  to 
Southern  independence,  and  would,  doubtless,  have  gladly 
waged  war  against  the  United  States,  but  the  matter  never 
reached  that  point.  The  surrender  of  Lee  entirely  changed 
the  situation.  American  troops  were  marched  toward  the 


544 


National  Development 


[§385 


Acquisition 
of  Alaska, 
1867. 


Election  of 
1868. 

Stanwood's 
Elections, 
ch.  xxii. 


Fifteenth 

Amendment, 

1869. 


Mexican  border,  and  the  French  minister  at  Washington 
was  reminded  by  Seward  (iS66)  that  the  United  States 
desired  the  removal  of  the  French  soldiers  from  Mexico ; 
they  were  at  once  removed,  but  Maximilian  remained.  He 
was  executed  by  the  Mexicans,  who  then  re-established  a 
republican  form  of  government. 

In  1867  the  United  States  acquired  a  great  addition  of 
territory  by  the  purchase  of  Alaska  from  Russia,  for  a  little 
more  than  seven  million  dollars.  This  purchase  added  an 
immense  tract  of  land  to  the  national  domain ;  its  value  is 
not  yet  fully  ascertained,  but  indications  point  to  its  great 
mineral  resources. 

385.  Election  of  1868. — The  Democratic  candidate  for 
the  presidency  in  1868  was  Horatio  Seymour.   He  had  been 
governor  of  the  state  of  New  York,  and  had  caused  Lincoln 
much  anxiety  by  his   feeble  support  of  the  government's 
measures,  and  also  by  his  open  hostility  displayed  to  some 
of  them.     In  their  platform  the  Democrats  declared  their 
approval  of  Johnson's  plan  of  reconstruction.     The  Repub 
licans  nominated  General  Grant,  and  declared  for  the  policy 
set  forth  in  the  reconstruction  acts.     Upon  these  platforms 
and  with  these  candidates  there  could  be  little  doubt  which 
side  the  voters  of  the  North  would  take,  nor  could  there  be 
much  doubt  as  to  the  preferences  of  those  entitled  to  vote 
in  the   South.     Virginia,  Georgia,   Mississippi,  and   Texas 
were  still  unreconstructed.     The  negroes  formed  the  ma 
jority  of  voters  in  the  Southern  states,  and  at  this  time  their 
votes  were  counted.     Out  of  two  hundred  and  ninety-four 
electoral  votes  Grant  received  two  hundred  and  fourteen. 

386.  End  of  Reconstruction. — The  Fourteenth  Amendment 
was  declared  in  force  in  July,  1868,  and  the  election  of  Grant 
in  the  following  November  plainly  indicated  that  the  majority 
of  the  voters  desired  the  completion  of  the  process  of  re 
construction,  as  embodied  in  the  recent  acts  of  Congress 
and  in  the   Fourteenth  Amendment.     In  February,   1869, 
Congress  added  one  more  safeguard  to  the  negroes'  rights 
as  citizens  by  proposing  the  Fifteenth  Amendment.     This 


1871]  End  of  Reconstruction  545 

provided  that  neither  the  federal  government  nor  any  state 
government  could  abridge  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States  to  the  franchise  "  on  account  of  race,  color, 
or  previous  condition  of  servitude."  The  ratification  of 
this,  as  well  as  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  was  now 
made  a  condition  of  the  readmission  of  Virginia,  Mississippi, 
Texas,  and  Georgia  to  the  Union.  The  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment  was  declared  in  force  in  March,  1870;  but  it  was  not 
until  1871  that  the  last  of  the  states  which  had  passed  seces 
sion  ordinances  were  restored  to  full  rights.  Meantime, 
since  1860,  Kansas,  West  Virginia,  Nevada,  and  Nebraska 
had  been  added  to  the  Union.  There  were  now  (1871) 
thirty -seven  states  in  all. 

The    Southern  whites  were    determined   to   deprive    the   The  South- 
freedmen  of  the  rights  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  amend-   erners  and 

-     .        J  .the  negroes. 

ments,  and  thus  to  defeat  the  object  ot  the  reconstruction 
acts.  Banded  together  in  secret  societies,  as  the  Ku-Klux, 
they  whipped  and  cruelly  ill-used  the  negroes  to  intimidate 
them  into  not  using  their  right  to  vote.  Congress,  there 
fore,  was  obliged  to  exercise  the  great  powers  conferred  on 
it  by  the  recent  amendments.  It  passed  several  laws,  known 
in  the  South  as  the  "  Force  Bills."  These  provided  suitable  The  Force 
penalties  for  the  infraction  of  the  amendments,  and  gave  the  Bills- 
federal  courts  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  all  such  cases.  By 
1872  the  condition  of  affairs  had  so  far  improved  that  Con 
gress  repealed  or  modified  some  of  the  more  severe  of  these 
measures.  It  also  passed  an  Amnesty  Act  relieving  many 
classes  of  Southerners  from  the  disabilities  laid  upon  them 
by  the  amendments  and  the  reconstruction  acts. 

The  Southern  whites  used  every  means  to  regain  control 
of  the  Southern  state  governments,  and  ultimately  suc 
ceeded.  There  was  much  injustice  done  to  the  freedmen, 
and  occasionally  great  disorder.  Often  two  rival  govern 
ments  contended  for  mastery ;  the  federal  authorities  were 
frequently  obliged  to  interfere  and  to  send  soldiers  to  main 
tain  order.  This  discouraging  condition  of  affairs  con 
tinued  throughout  Grant's  two  terms  of  office  as  President. 


546  National  Development  [§  387 

The  Treaty  of  387.  Relations  with  Great  Britain.  —  The  Northern  peo- 
Washington,  pje  ^ad  never  forgotten  the  action  of  the  British  government 
at  the  time  of  the  "  Trent  affair,"  nor  its  inaction  as  to  the 
Alabama  and  other  Confederate  vessels.  There  were  also 
other  causes  of  irritation,  especially  a  dispute  as  to  the 
boundary  in  the  extreme  northwest,  and  as  to  the  rights  of 
American  fishermen  in  Canadian  waters.  In  1869  Reverdy 
Johnson,  the  American  minister  in  London,  negotiated  a 
treaty  on  these  matters,  which  was  promptly  rejected  by  the 
United  States  Senate.  The  next  year,  however,  the  British 
government  suggested  that  a  joint  commission  should  meet 
at  Washington  to  arrange  some  of  the  matters  in  contro 
versy.  The  American  government  consented,  on  condition 
that  the  "Alabama  dispute"  should  also  be  considered. 
The  commissioners  met  at  the  federal  capital,  and  con 
cluded  the  Treaty  of  Washington  (1871).  According  to 
this  instrument,  the  matters  in  controversy  were  referred  to 
courts  of  arbitration  or  to  joint  commissions,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  controversy  as  to  the  northwest  boundary,  which 
was  referred  to  the  German  Emperor  as  arbiter.  This  last 
was  in  regard  to  the  boundary  from  the  mainland  on  the 
eastern  side  of  Vancouver  Sound  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  at 
the  western  end  of  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca.  The  point 
in  dispute  was  especially  over  the  ownership  of  St.  Juan 
Island,  which  separated  the  two  main  channels.  The  matter 
was  finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  United  States  (1872). 
The  Ala-  The  "  Alabama  claims  "  included  all  the  disputes  which 

bamaArbi-     na(^   arjsen  ont   of  tne  refusal  of  Great  Britain  to  enforce 

tration,  1872.  .  ,       ,  .  .     ,        ,„.    ., 

the  obligations  of  neutrals  during  the  course  of  the  Civil 

War.  These  were  now  referred  to  a  court  of  arbitration, 
consisting  of  five  members  to  be  appointed,  one  each  by  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  Brazil. 
The  tribunal  was  authorized  to  proceed  on  the  assumption 
that  a  neutral  was  obliged  to  use  "due  diligence"  to  pre 
vent  its  territory  being  made  the  basis  of  hostile  expeditions 
or  armaments  against  one  of  the  belligerents  ;  but  the  British 
government  was  unwilling  to  admit  that  international  prac- 


I872] 


Political  Uncertainty 


547 


tice  had  imposed  such  obligations  at  the  time  of  the  Civil 
War.  When  the  tribunal  met  at  Geneva  (1872),  the  United 
States  suggested  that  Great  Britain  should  be  held  respon 
sible  not  only  for  the  direct  loss  occasioned  by  her  lack  of 
due  diligence,  but  also  for  the  indirect  damage  caused  by 
the  prolongation  of  the  conflict  so 
far  as  it  could  be  attributed  to  the 
action  of  the  Confederate  cruisers. 
The  court  rejected  this  claim  for  in 
direct  damages,  but  held  that  the 
British  government  had  not  shown  due 
diligence  in  permitting  the  escape  of 
the  Alabama,  and  in  allowing  the 
Shenandoah  to  fill  her  bunkers  with 
coal  at  Melbourne.  The  court  awarded 
the  United  States  fifteen  and  one  half 
million  dollars,  the  British  representa- 
tative  alone  dissenting  from  this  verdict. 
388.  Political  Uncertainty,  1868-76. 
—  The  speculative  spirit  aroused  among 
the  Northerners  by  the  war,  the  great 
fortunes  accumulated  through  the  man 
ufacturing  industries  fostered  by  high 
protective  tariffs,  and  the  gains  made 
by  the  manipulation  of  railroad  shares 
and  bonds  culminated  in  an  era  of 
activity  unequaled  in  the  history  of  the 
country.  Every  one  endeavored  to 
acquire  wealth,  by  fair  means  if  pos 
sible  ;  but  many  went  even  further,  and 
sought  to  gain  riches  by  any  means,  whether  fair  or  foul. 
Innumerable  scandals  came  to  light,  extending  from  the  high 
est  circles  in  the  federal  government  to  the  rings  and  cliques 
which  plundered  cities  and  towns.  Grant's  personal  honesty 
was  beyond  question,  but  he  found  that  methods  of  appoint 
ment  suited  to  military  life  were  entirely  out  of  place  in  civil 
administration.  One  of  the  members  of  his  cabinet  was 


Election  of 
1872. 


The  Washington 
Monument 


548 


National  Development 


[§389 


Election  of 
1876. 

Stanwood's 
Elections, 
ch.  xxiv. 


impeached  for  accepting  bribes,  but  escaped  punishment  by 
retiring  from  office.  The  national  Congress  was  popularly 
supposed  to  be  honeycombed  with  corruption,  but  little 
could  be  proved  against  any  individual  members.  Among 
the  minor  scandals,  that  of  the  "Tweed  Ring"  in  New  York 
attracted  most  attention  ;  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  the 
administration  of  other  cities  was  tainted  with  corruption. 
All  this  wrongdoing  worked  against  the  Republican  party, 
which  was  really  responsible  for  only  a  little  of  it.  Its  failure 
to  bring  safety  to  the  freedmen  or  peace  to  the  South  also 
alienated  many  of  its  supporters.  This  feeling  of  opposi 
tion  first  found  expression  in  the  election  of  1872,  when 
many  dissatisfied  Republicans,  styling  themselves  "  Liberal 
Republicans,"  nominated  Horace  Greeley  for  the  presi 
dency.  The  nomination  was  ratified  by  the  Democratic 
convention  of  that  year ;  but  very  many  Democrats  were 
unable  to  vote  for  one  who  had  taken  so  radical  an  attitude 
during  the  war.  Under  these  circumstances,  Grant,  the 
Republican  candidate,  was  re-elected  by  a  large  majority 
of  electoral  votes  ;  but  two  years  later  the  Democrats  elected 
a  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives  (1874). 

389.  Election  of  1876.  —  Grant's  second  term  came  to 
a  close  on  March  4,  1877.  The  campaign  of  the  preceding 
year  had  been  more  fiercely  contested  than  any  election 
since  1860.  The  Democrats  had  now  accepted  the  policy 
of  reconstruction,  and  there  was  slight  difference  between 
the  two  parties,  so  far  as  principles  went,  although  the  Dem 
ocrats  were  more  friendly  to  the  South  than  were  the  Repub 
licans.  The  latter  nominated  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  of  Ohio 
for  President,  and  the  Democrats  chose  for  their  candidate 
Samuel  J.  Tilden  of  New  York,  who  had  shown  ability  and 
honesty  in  the  administration  of  state  affairs.  The  election 
was  very  close,  and  finally  turned  on  the  votes  of  three 
Southern  states,  whose  governments  were  still  in  an  unsettled 
condition.  The  Constitution  is  exceedingly  vague  as  to  the 
process  by  which  the  electoral  vote  shall  be  ascertained. 
The  Twelfth  Amendment  says  :  "  The  President  of  the  Sen- 


1876]  Election  of  1876  549 

ate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  the  House  of 
Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates  and  the  votes  shall 
then  be  counted."  In  1876  the  Senate  was  Republican 
and  the  President  of  the  Senate  was  a  Republican ;  the 
House  of  Representatives,  on  the  other  hand,  was  in  the 
control  of  the  Democrats.  Two  sets  of  certificates  had  been 
received  from  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina,  and 
there  was  a  controversy  as  to  the  vote  of  Oregon.  If  all 
these  votes  should  be  counted  for  the  Republican  candidate, 
he  would  be  elected  by  a  majority  of  one ;  but  if  the  votes 
of  one  only  of  these  states  should  be  thrown  out  or  given  to 
the  Democratic  nominee,  the  latter  would  be  elected.  Under 
these  circumstances,  it  was  most  important  to  secure  an  im 
partial  count  of  the  ballots  ;  but  what  man,  or  body  of  men, 
under  the  Constitution,  had  the  authority  to  decide  as  to  the 
validity  of  the  disputed  certificates?  Was  it  the  business  of 
the  President  of  the  Senate?  Or  should  it  be  confided  to 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  sitting  together 
or  sitting  apart?  Congress  could  come  to  no  agreement  on 
these  points ;  but  both  houses  were  able  to  agree  to  refer 
the  matter  to  an  extra-legal  Electoral  Commission  of  five  The  Electo- 
senators,  five  representatives,  and  five  justices  of  the  ral  Commis- 
Supreme  Court.  It  turned  out  that  eight  of  the  fifteen 
members  of  the  commission  were  Republicans,  and  they 
voted  together  on  every  important  question.  On  March  2, 
1877,  the  commission,  by  a  vote  of  eight  to  seven,  reported 
that  Hayes  was  elected,  and  two  days  later  he  was  inaugu 
rated. 

390.  A  New  Epoch,  1876.  — The  administration  of  Presi 
dent  Hayes  marks  the  close  of  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  United  States.  He  removed  the  soldiers  who  still  up 
held  the  federal  authority  in  two  Southern  states,  and  left 
the  Southern  people  free  to  work  out  their  new  life  as  best 
they  might.  The  old  Southern  leaders  had  regained  con 
trol  of  the  Southern  state  governments,  and  had  practically 
suppressed  the  political  privileges  guaranteed  to  the  freed- 
men.  They  were  determined  to  retain  political  power  in 


550 


National  Development 


[§39i 


Hayes's  ad- 


their  own  hands,  but  had  no  desire,  or  at  least  had  no  in 
tention,  to  return  to  the  slave  system,  or  again  to  assert  the 
doctrine  of  states'  rights ;  these  two  issues  were  dead  in 
the  South  as  they  were  in  the  North.  The  politics  of  the 
country  were  to  turn  on  other  issues  in  the  future  :  the  re 
form  of  the  civil  ser 
vice,  the  revision  of  the 
tariff,  and  the  substitu 
tion  of  silver  for  gold. 
On  these  issues  there 
has  been  little  difference 
in  principle  between 
the  two  great  parties. 
The  Democrats  inher 
ited  from  earlier  days  a 
desire  for  freer  trade 
than  existed  under  the 
war  tariff,  and  perhaps 
would  have  rejoiced  to 
see  free  trade  estab 
lished,  while  the  Repub 
licans,  as  a  party,  have  argued  for  extreme  protection.  Both 
have  supported  civil  service  reform,  especially  when  out-  of 
power.  Until  1896,  both  parties  favored  the  making  of  laws 
to  put  more  silver  money  into  circulation. 

391.     Political    History,     1877-96.  —  President     Hayes 


ministration,  Degan  his  administration  under  many  disadvantages ;  his 
election  had  been  achieved  by  dubious  methods,  and  the 
House  of  Representatives  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Democrats, 
who  were  disposed  to  hamper  him  in  every  possible  way. 
During  the  first  two  years  of  his  term  of  office  the  number 
of  dissatisfied  Republicans  steadily  increased,  and,  in  1878, 
the  Democrats  gained  control  of  the  Senate  while  retain 
ing  their  majority  in  the  House.  They  made  blunder  after 
blunder,  and  the  quiet,  dignified  administration  of  Hayes 
attracted  many  of  the  independent  Republican  voters  back 
to  their  old  party  allegiance.  In  1880  a  determined  at- 


i88o] 


Political  History 


551 


tempt  was  made  to  nominate  Grant   for  a  third  term,  but   Election  of 
the  traditional  limit  of  two  terms  was  so  firmly  fixed  in  the    *88o> 

'  btanwood  s 

nation's  prejudices  that  even  the  "  stalwart   Republicans,"    Elections, 
as  those  favorable  to  a  third  term  were  called,  were  obliged   ch-  xxv- 
to  yield.    James  A.  Garfield  of  Ohio  became  the  Republican 
candidate  and  was  elected.     The  Democrats  lost  control  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  also,  and  became  so  weak  in 


Election  of  1880 

the  Senate  that   that    body  was    generally  equally  divided 
between  the  two  parties. 

Soon  after  his  inauguration,  Garfield  was  murdered  by  a   Civil  service 
disappointed  office  seeker,  and  Chester  A.  Arthur  of  New   reform- 
York,  the  Vice-President,  succeeded  to  the  chief  magistracy. 
Garfield's  death  was  so  evidently  due  to  the  prevailing  sys 
tem  of  appointment  to  the  civil  service,  that  public  attention 
was  aroused  to  the  evils  attendant  on  the  existing  practice 
of  political  appointment.     Arthur  entered  heartily  into  the 
scheme  of  civil  service  reform,  and  a  beginning  was  made 


552 


National  Development 


Election  of 
1884. 

Stanwood's 
Elections, 
ch.  xxvi. 


in  the  right  direction.  In  1884  the  Republicans  nominated 
one  of  the  "  stalwart "  leaders,  James  G.  Elaine,  who  was 
not  trusted  by  a  large  number  of  men  who  usually  voted  for 
Republican  candidates.  They  either  abstained  from  voting 
or  cast  their  ballots  for  Grover  Cleveland  of  New  York,  the 
Democratic  candidate,  and  he  was  elected.  The  Democrats 
also  secured  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  new  President  extended  the  scope  of  the  reform  of 


Cleveland's 
administra 
tion,  1885-89. 


Election   of  1884 

the  civil  service,  and  something  was  done  toward  the 
revision  of  the  tariff,  in  the  direction  of  lower  duties. 
Parties  were  evenly  divided ;  but  the  prominence  of  the 
old  Southern  element  in  the  Democratic  councils,  and  its 
lack  of  consideration  for  the  business  interests  of  the  coun 
try,  turned  away  many  Northern  voters  who  had  supported 
Cleveland.  This  feeling  led  to  the  election  in  1888  of 
Benjamin  Harrison  of  Indiana,  the  Republican  candidate. 
The  Republicans  also  secured  control  of  Congress,  and 


1 888]  Civil  Service  Reform  553 

"  reformed  the  tariff,"  as  the  phrase  was,  by  largely  increasing   Politics, 
the  duties.     They  also  passed  a  law  obliging  the  government   ^~9^d>s 
to  buy  a  large  amount  of  silver  each  month,  and  coin  it  into   Elections, 
dollars,  whose  market  value  as  metal  was  about  fifty-three   ch.  xxviiito 
cents  in  gold.     Senator  Sherman  and  Representative  McKin-   ^n  'silver 
ley  of  Ohio  were  the  leaders  in  this  policy.     Industrial  and   legislation, 
business  interests  became  alarmed,  the  government's  revenues   see  John- 
declined,  and  Grover  Cleveland  was  again  elected  President   g^iy* 
in  1892.     Harrison  had  also  extended  the  scope  of  the  merit   296-366. 
system,  and  Cleveland,  in  his  second  term,  again  extended 
it.     In  Cleveland's  time  also  the   Sherman   silver  law  was 
repealed,  and   the   McKinley  Tariff  was    modified    toward 
lower  rates.     Cleveland,  however,  was  not  at  all  in  harmony 
with  the  great  mass  of  the  Democratic  voters.     In  1896  the 
Democratic  convention  met  at  Chicago  and  nominated  Wil 
liam  J.  Bryan  of  Nebraska  for  the  presidency,  on  a  platform 
advocating  the  free  coinage  of  silver  and  the  institution  of 
many  changes  in  the  direction  of  socialism.     The  Republi 
cans,  on  the  other  hand,  advocated  the  retention  of  the  gold 
standard,  and  they  also   demanded   the  restoration  of  the 
protective   system  in  its   entirety.     On  this   platform  they 
nominated  William  McKinley  of  Ohio,  who  was  elected.     It 
will  be  well  now  to  consider  in  a  more  connected  way  some 
of  the  leading  topics  in  the  political  history  of  this  period, 
and  then  to  examine  with  care  the  condition  of  the  country 
in  the  census  year,  1900. 

392.    Civil  Service  Reform,   1868-96.  —  The    system   of 
appointing  to  office   only  the    members  of  one's   political 
party  was  begun  by  the  Federalists,  accepted  by  the  early 
Republicans,  and  carried  to  its  logical  conclusion  by  Jack 
son  and  his  successors.     The  people  had  paid  slight  atten-   f^kS'c'rw*/ 
tion  to  the  subject,  however,  until  the  scandals  that  came  to    Government, 
light  in  Grant's  second  term  compelled  their  observation.   26l« 
Any  reform  of  the  civil  service  is  very  difficult  to  accomplish, 
because  no  limitation  can  be  placed  upon  the  President's 
constitutional  power  of  nomination.     A  reform  of  this  nature 
also  requires  the  appropriation  of  money  for  the  payment  of 


554 


National  Development 


[§392 


expenses  incurred  in  its  prosecution,  and  this  appropriation 
can  only  be  made  with  the  consent  of  both  houses  of  Con 
gress.  The  active  co-operation  of  the  executive  and  legis 
lative  branches  of  the  government  is  therefore  necessary  to 
the  beginning  and  prosecution  of  a  reform  of  this  kind. 

General  Grant  was  most  anxious  to  give  the  country  a 
pure  and  efficient  civil  service.  He  willingly  consented  to 

have  his  power  of 
nomination  limited 
for  the  public  good. 
Congress  passed  an 
act  (1868)  authoriz 
ing  the  President  to 
establish  and  admin 
ister,  through  a  Civil 
Service  Commission, 
such  rules  for  appoint 
ment  and  promotion 
of  civilian  govern 
mental  employees  as 
he  might  think  desir 
able.  Grant  at  once 
acted  on  the  authority 
conferred  by  this  act ; 
but  Congress  was  not  so  mindful  of  its  obligations.  After 
three  years  of  fairly  successful  trial,  it  refused  to  make  the 
appropriations  necessary  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Civil 
Service  Commission,  and  this  attempt  to  improve  political 
life  came  to  an  end  (1874). 

Garfield's  administration  began  with  a  fierce  contest  be 
tween  the  President  and  the  senators  from  New  York.  In 
the  course  of  time,  a  custom  had  grown  up  of  practically 
leaving  to  the  senators  from  each  state  the  final  decision  as 
to  all  appointments  made  in  the  states  they  represented. 
Garfield  refused  to  accede  to  the  wishes  of  the  senators 
from  New  York  as  to  the  appointment  to  the  most  important 
federal  office  in  that  state,  —  the  collectorship  of  customs  in 


1872]  Taxation  555 

New  York  City.  The  two  senators  resigned  and  Garfield 
was  murdered.  The  people  awoke  to  the  necessity  of  a 
reform  in  the  mode  of  appointment  to  the  civil  service. 
Senator  Pendleton  of  Ohio,  a  Democrat,  introduced  a  bill 
authorizing  the  President  again  to  establish  the  merit  system 
of  appointment.  Both  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  were  controlled  by  the  Republicans ;  but  they 
accepted  this  law,  and  Garfield's  successor,  President  Arthur, 
assented  to  it.  The  Civil  Service  Commission  was  again 
appointed  and  the  reform  was  begun  as  to  a  few  specified 
classes  of  officials.  Gradually,  successive  presidents  have 
enlarged  the  number  of  classes  affected  by  the  reform,  until 
now  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  civil  service  is  organized 
on  the  merit  system. 

393.    Taxation.  —  The   war    left   the    country   staggering 
under  a  heavy  load  of  taxation  :  the  internal  revenue  duties 
reached  nearly  every  kind  of  expenditure,  and  the  high  pro-   Reduction  of 
tective  duties  greatly  increased  the  cost  of  all  manufactured   mter.nai 

.  .  11-  revenue 

articles.      1  he  internal  revenue  duties  were  reduced  in  num-   duties, 
ber  and  in  amount  until,   in   1872,   they  were   practically 
abandoned,  except  as  to  beer,  spirits,  and  tobacco. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  tariff  rates  had  been  in-   Tariff  policy, 
creased   to  counteract  the  effect  of  the   internal  revenue  J°hnston>sTW 

.  .     Orations,  IV. 

duties  on  manufactured  commodities  (p.  492).  It  would  238-269. 
appear  reasonable,  therefore,  that,  as  the  latter  were  reduced 
or  abandoned,  the  former  should  be  reduced  at  the  same 
time.  It  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  protective  system, 
however,  that  a  protective  duty  once  imposed  is  very  difficult 
to  get  rid  of.  Important  interests  become  alarmed,  and  are 
able  to  advance  an  argument  which  undoubtedly  has  a  good 
deal  offeree,  —  the  threatened  industry  has  been  established 
or  enlarged,  and  capital  has  been  invested  in  a  plant  which 
would  become  useless  were  the  industry  to  be  destroyed. 
Working  men  and  women  are  also  keenly  interested  in  the 
matter ;  hundreds  and  thousands  of  workers  have  gained 
skill  of  the  kind  demanded  by  the  industry  which  is  threat 
ened.  If  the  law  is  repealed,  these  skilled  work-people  will 


556 


National  Development 


[§393 


McKinley 


be  turned  adrift,  and  they  and  those  dependent  upon  them 
left  to  starve.  These  and  similar  arguments  have  practically 
operated  to  retain  the  war  tariff  to  the  present  time,  notwith 
standing  the  repeal  of  the  internal  revenue  laws. 

In  1872,  when  the  internal  revenue  duties  came  to  an 
end,  Congress  passed  an  act  making  a  general  ten  per  cent 
reduction  on  import  duties ;  on  several  commodities,  the 

duties  were  greatly  low 
ered  ;  for  instance,  that 
on  salt  was  reduced  one 
half,  and  the  duty  on 
coal  was  lowered  from 
one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  per  cent  to  seventy- 
five  per  cent;  other 
commodities,  as  hides, 
paper  stock,  and  a  few 
other  raw  materials  for 
manufacturers'  use,  were 
placed  on  the  free  list, 
as  were  also  tea  and 
coffee.  Two  years  later 
came  the  financial  panic  ; 
the  revenue  fell  off,  and 
Congress  restored  the  ten  per  cent  reduction,  leaving  the 
other  reductions  as  they  were.  Nothing  more  was  done 
until  1882,  when  a  tariff  commission  was  appointed  to  gather 
evidence,  and,  on  its  report,  a  slight  modification  of  the 
protective  duties  was  made.  In  1887  President  Cleveland 
brought  the  matter  prominently  forward,  and  for  a  time  it 
seemed  as  if  something  might  be  done  ;  but  nothing  of 
importance  was  done. 

During  Harrison's  administration,  the  Republicans  gained 


Tariff,  1890.  controi  Of  both  branches  of  Congress  and  proceeded  to 
"  reform  "  the  tariff  so  as  to  make  it  more  protective.  Wil 
liam  McKinley  was  the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  which  had  the  subject  in  charge, 


1807-60]  The  Cuban  Question  557 

and  the  bill  as  passed  is  usually  known  as  the  "  McKinley 
Tariff."  It  generally  raised  the  rates  on  protected  articles, 
and  added  others  to  the  list.  One  feature  of  this  law  de 
serves  to  be  noted  :  the  offer  of  reciprocity  to  those  coun 
tries  which  would  favor  American  manufactures.  The  effect 
of  this  policy  cannot  be  stated,  for  the  law  was  in  force  for  a 
short  time  only,  as  the  act  was  repealed  in  Cleveland's  sec 
ond  term.  In  its  place  was  substituted  a  modified  tariff,  Wilson 
which  made  a  slight  approach  toward  freer  trade.  The  Tariff- 
actual  effect  of  tariff  legislation  is  difficult  to  discover.  It  is 
undeniable  that  great  industrial  progress  was  made  under 
the  low  tariffs  which  were  in  force  for  the  fifteen  years  pre 
ceding  the  Civil  War ;  it  is  also  beyond  question  that  the 
industrial  progress  has  been  enormous  in  the  thirty-five 
years  since  Lincoln's  inauguration  under  higher  tariffs ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  the  prices  of  the  principal  articles  of  con 
sumption  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  were  no  higher  in 
1896  under  a  high  tariff  than  they  were  in  1860  under  the 
lowest  tariff  the  country  has  had  since  1816. 

In  November,   1896,   the   Republican   candidate   for  the   Election  of 
Presidency  was  William  McKinley  of  Ohio,  and  the  Demo-    l896- 
cratic  candidate  was  William  J.  Bryan  of  Kansas.     The  cam 
paign  was  fought  mainly  on  the  question  of  whether  gold  or 
silver  should  be  the  standard  of  value  in  the  United  States. 
McKinley  stood  for  the   gold  basis  and  won.     In  March, 
1900,  Congress  passed  a  law  making  gold  the  standard  of 
value  and  repealing  the  silver  legislation  of  the  preceding 
years. 

394.    The   Cuban   Question,   1807-60.  —  Ever   since    the  Cuban 
beginning  of  the  century  Cuba  and  the  Cuban  people  have   relations- 
had  a  peculiar  interest  for  the  American  nation.     The  island 
is  surpassingly  fertile  and  contains  rich  mineral  deposits.    Its 
position  forbids  its  occupation  by  any  strong  foreign  power. 
Its  command  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  makes  American  control 
of  it  almost  a  military  necessity.     Its  unceasing  misgovern- 
ment  has  often  angered  our  people  and  has  frequently  given 
rise  to  disputes  with  Spain.      As  long  ago  as  1807  Jefferson 


558 


National  Development 


[§  395 


Jefferson  and 
Monroe  on 
annexation. 


"The 
Ostend 

Manifesto, 

1854. 

American 

History 

Leaflets, 

No.  2. 


Cuba, 
1868-98. 


suggested  that  "  probably  Cuba  would  add  itself  to  our  con 
federation  in  case  of  a  war  with  Spain."  In  1823  Monroe 
declared  that  Cuba  would  be  "  the  most  interesting  addi 
tion"  to  the  United  States.  In  1845  the  American  govern 
ment  offered  to  pay  one  hundred  million  dollars  for  the 
island.  The  Spaniards  replied  that  they  would  prefer  to  see 
it  "  sunk  in  the  ocean."  Three  years  later,  to  another  offer, 
they  replied  that  "  to  part  with  Cuba  would  be  to  part  with 
national  honor."  Americans  interested  in  annexation  then 
fitted  out  expeditions  to  stir  up  rebellions  in  the  island. 
But  the  American  government  stopped  that  proceeding. 
Foreign  powers,  however,  were  alarmed.  England  and 
France  asked  the  United  States  to  join  with  them  in  a  guar 
antee  of  the  island  to  Spain.  But  the  American  government 
refused  to  be  a  party  to  any  such  agreement,  because,  under 
some  circumstances,  its  possession  "  might  be  essential  to  our 
safety"  (1852).  Two  years  later  the  American  ministers 
to  England,  France,  and  Spain  joined  in  the  "  Ostend 
Manifesto,"  suggesting  annexation  by  force  on  the  ground 
that  the  United  States  could  "  never  enjoy  repose,  nor  pos 
sess  reliable  security,  as  long  as  Cuba  is  not  embraced  within 
its  boundaries."  The  possession  of  Cuba  became  a  recog 
nized  part  of  Democratic  policy  and  was  favored  in  the 
platforms  of  both  the  Breckenridge  and  Douglas  Democrats 
in  1860. 

395.  Causes  of  the  Spanish  War.  —  Since  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War  the  misgovernment  of  Cuba  has  attracted  ever 
increasing  attention.  In  1867  the  Cubans  rebelled.  Year 
after  year  the  insurrection,  with  its  horrible  tale  of  pillage  and 
murder,  continued.  At  length,  in  1877,  President  Grant  in 
terfered  to  effect  a  separation  of  the  island  from  its  tyrannical 
masters.  Spain  at  once  made  concessions  which  induced 
the  insurgents  to  lay  down  their  arms.  These  concessions 
were  never  honestly  carried  into  effect.  In  1894  another 
rebellion  broke  out.  Again  heartrending  tales  of  cruelty 
reached  the  United  States.  The  government  did  everything 
possible  to  prevent  assistance  being  sent  to  the  insurgents. 


56o 


National  Development 


[§  395 


Destruction 
of  the 
Maine, 
February, 
1898. 


Spain 
ordered  to 
withdraw, 
April  19, 
1898. 


The  conditions  of  the  Cubans  became  worse  and  worse.  On 
January  5,  1898,  the  battleship  Maine  anchored  in  Havana 
harbor  to  safeguard  American  interests.  On  February  15 
she  was  blown  up  from  outside,  and  sank  with  two  hundred 
and  fifty-three  of  her  crew.  An  inquiry  was  at  once  begun. 
March  7  Congress  placed  fifty  million  dollars  in  President 
McKinley's  hands  for  national  defense.  The  substance  of 
the  report  of  the  Board  of  Inquiry  was  made  public  on 
March  21.  A  week  later  McKinley  sent  the  full  report  to 
Congress,  with  the  statement  that  it  had  been  communicated 
to  the  Spanish  government  that  the  Spaniards  might  take 
such  action  as  should  be  "  suggested  by  honor  and  the 
friendly  relations  of  the  two  governments."  Spain  replied 
by  proposing  that  the  matter  should  be  referred  to  arbitra 
tion.  Events  now  marched  rapidly  on.  Unless  the  United 
States  intervened,  it  was  evident  that  the  extermination  of 
the  Cuban  people  would  go  on  until  the  peace  "  of  the 
wilderness  and  the  grave  "  should  leave  none  to  resist.  Re 
plying  to  the  foreign  ambassadors,  McKinley  declared  :  "  The 
chronic  condition  of  disturbance  there  [in  Cuba]  so  deeply 
injures  the  interests  and  menaces  the  tranquillity  of  the  Ameri 
can  nation  by  the  character  and  consequences  of  the  struggle 
thus  kept  at  our  door,  besides  shocking  its  sentiment  of 
humanity,"  that  its  "  indefinite  prolongation  .  .  .  has  become 
insufferable."  April  19  Congress  passed  resolutions  assert 
ing  (i)  that  the  people  of  Cuba  are  and  of  right  ought  to 
be  free  and  independent;  (2)  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
United  States  to  demand  the  withdrawal  of  Spain  from  the 
island;  (3)  that  the  President  is  authorized  to  compel 
Spain's  withdrawal ;  and  (4)  that  the  United  States  has  no 
intention  to  absorb  Cuba,  but  is  determined  "  to  leave  the 
government  and  control  of  the  island  to  its  people."  April 
20  a  final  proposition  setting  forth  this  decision  was  cabled 
to  General  Woodford,  American  minister  at  Madrid.  But 
before  he  could  present  it,  he  was  informed  by  the  Spanish 
government  that  diplomatic  relations  had  come  to  an  end. 
Sentiment  in  the  United  States  was  divided  on  this  matter, 


The    War  on  tJie  Sea 


56i 


as  on  other  matters.  Seeing  that  Spanish  rule  in  Cuba  could  The 
not  be  longer  allowed,  many  persons  held  that  war  was  cer- 
tain.  They  thought,  however,  that  the  United  States  should  united, 
choose  its  own  time  and  mode  of  attack.  Above  all,  they 
thought  that,  if  possible,  the  army  and  navy  should  be  placed 
on  a  war  footing  and  properly  armed  and  drilled  before  war 
was  begun.  They  especially  deplored  the  necessity  of  send 
ing  American  soldiers  to  Cuba  during  the  hot  season.  Some 
persons  even  believed  the 
war  to  be  unjustifiable ;  but 
they  were  few  in  number. 
War  once  declared,  the  whole 
nation,  with  scarcely  an  ex 
ception,  prepared  energeti 
cally  to  support  the  govern 
ment.  The  people  of  the 
North  and  of  the  South,  of 
the  East  and  of  the  West, 
united  heartily  to  do  their 
duty  to  their  country  and 
their  flag.  The  last  appear 
ance  of  sectional  divisions 
ceased.  Moreover,  it  soon 
was  seen  that  now,  after  more  than  one  hundred  years  of 
discord,  the  interests  of  the  United  States  and  of  Great 
Britain  were  at  last  the  same. 

396.  The  War  on  the  Sea.  —  The  President  at  once  de 
clared  a  blockade  of  portions  of  the  Cuban  coast.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  the  Asiatic  fleet  under  Admiral  Dewey  The  victory 
was  at  Hong-Kong.  Sailing  thence  on  the  declaration  of  **  Manila, 
war,  it  entered  Manila  Bay  in  the  early  morning  of  May  i. 
The  Spanish  fleet  in  the  Philippines  was  found  lying  under 
the  guns  of  the  arsenal  at  Cavite  (Ca-vee'-tay),  a  few  miles 
from  the  city  of  Manila.  Dewey  at  once  opened  fire,  and  in 
a  few  hours  destroyed  or  captured  the  whole  Spanish  fleet. 
No  American  ship  was  seriously  injured.  No  American  sailor 
was  killed  and  only  six  were  wounded.  The  Spaniards 


George  Dewey 


National  Development 


[§396 


The  task  of 
Sampson 
and  Schley. 


W.  T.  Sampson 


The  navy  in 


lost  hundreds  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Dewey  now 
had  the  city  of  Manila  at  his  mercy.  But  he  could  not 
spare  enough  men  from  his  ships  to  maintain  order  in  the 

city,  when  captured,  and  to 
defend  it  from  attack  on  the 
side  away  from  the  water. 
He  blockaded  it  and  awaited 
the  coming  of  soldiers,  who 
were  speedily  sent  from  the 
United  States  under  General 
Merritt. 

Admiral  Sampson,  in  com 
mand  of  the  North  Atlantic 
fleet,  and  Admiral  Schley,  in 
command  of  a  "  flying  squad 
ron  "  stationed  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  had  a  more  difficult 
part  to  perform.  With  the  assistance  of  a  coast  patrol  they 
had  to  protect  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  to  guard  any  transports 
with  soldiers  that  might  be  sent  to  the  West  Indies,  to  block 
ade  Cuba,  and  to  destroy  any  fleet  that  Spain  might  send  to 

this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
To  do  this  they  had  the 
regular  naval  vessels,  small 
in  number,  but  each  excel 
lent  of  its  kind.  Vessels 
were  bought,  turned  into 
cruisers,  dispatch  boats,  and 
transports.  The  many  vessels 
added  to  the  navy  required 
thousands  of  sailors  to  man 
them.  Fortunately  many 
states  had  naval  militia. 
These  men  at  once  volun- 
teered,  and  with  the  regular  seamen  rendered  splendid  service. 
With  the  SPanish  vessels  already  in  American  waters 
Sampson  and  Schley  had  no  trouble.  The  smaller  vessels 


W.  S.  Schley 


Battleship  Iowa  in  Dry  Dock 


564 


National  Development 


[§396 


of  the  American  fleet  were  able  to  destroy  such  of  them  as 
ventured  to  leave  port.  But  Spain  possessed  half-a-dozen 
modern  armored  cruisers,  of  high  speed  and  heavily  armed. 
Four  of  them,  with  three  sea-going  torpedo  boats,  were  sent 
across  the  Atlantic  under  Admiral  Cervera  (thar-va-ra) . 
For  a  time  he  eluded  the  search  of  the  American  com 
manders  and  then  entered  the  harbor  of  Santiago  de  Cuba. 
There  he  was  immediately  blockaded  by  the  combined  fleets 
of  Sampson  and  Schley.  The  Americans  had  four  battle 
ships,  the  Iowa,  Indiana,  Massachusetts,  and  Texas,  and  two 
armored  cruisers,  the  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  To  them, 
while  Cervera  was  sailing  around  the  Caribbean  Sea,  came 
the  Oregon.  This  battleship  was  built  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
When  the  Maine  was  destroyed,  the  Oregon  was  ordered  to 
make  the  best  of  her  way  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Week 
after  week  she  steamed  through  the  Pacific,  passed  the  Straits 
of  Magellan,  and  sailed  up  the  eastern  coast  of  South 
America,  reaching  Key  West  after  the  most  splendid  voyage 
ever  made  by  a  battleship.  She  at  once  took  her  place  in 
the  fighting  line. 

Santiago  harbor  is  long ;  its  entrance  is  blocked  by  huge 
mountainous  masses,  through  which  a  narrow  strait  leads  to 

destroyed, 

July  3, 1898.  tne  sea-  It:  occurred  to  Lieutenant  Hobson  that  a  vessel, 
the  Merrimac,  might  be  sunk  across  this  narrow  opening.  If 
this  were  done,  the  Spanish  fleet  could  not  pass  the  entrance, 
elude  the  blockading  squadron,  and  escape  to  sea.  With 
six  companions  he  carried  out  his  hazardous  scheme.  But 
the  Spaniards  disabled  the  Merrimac  and  she  was  sunk  too 
far  in  completely  to  block  the  channel.  The  heroism  of  this 
deed  appealed  strongly  to  gallant  Admiral  Cervera.  He 
greeted  Hobson  warmly,  and  at  once  sent  a  boat  to  the  block- 
aders  to  assure  them  that  Hobson  and  his  men  were  alive. 
Sampson  and  Schley  agreed  that  the  dangers  of  entering  the 
harbor  were  too  great  to  permit  them  to  risk  their  vessels  in 
the  narrow  channel.  They  could  not  get  at  Cervera's  ships. 
It  became  necessary  to  capture  Santiago  and  drive  the  Span 
ish  ships  out  or  sink  them  by  batteries  from  the  shore.  An 


Cervera  s 
fleet 


The  Land  Campaigns  565 

army  under  General  Shafter  was  quickly  sent  to  Santiago. 
But,  before  Shafter  captured  the  city,  Cervera  suddenly  put 
to  sea,  Sunday,  July  3.  The  American  ships  cleared  for 
action.  The  Spanish  vessels  steered  to  the  westward  and  a 
running  fight  took  place.  Soon  the  cruiser  Maria  Theresa 
was  disabled  and  set  on  fire.  Then  followed  in  rapid  succes 
sion  the  destruction  of  the  torpedo  boats  and  of  the  cruisers 
Almirante  Oquendo  and  Viscaya.  One  cruiser,  the  Cristobal 
Colon,  maintained  the  sea  for  a  few  hours,  because  she  was 
so  fast.  But  she  too  was  finally  forced  to  surrender  and 
was  sunk  by  her  crew  before  the  American  sailors  could  take 
possession.  A  whole  fleet  was  thus  destroyed  in  a  few  hours, 
hundreds  of  seamen  were  killed,  wounded,  and  drowned. 
About  sixteen  hundred  men  were  captured.  And  all  this  at 
the  cost  of  one  American  killed  and  two  wounded  !  More 
over,  the  American  ships  were  practically  uninjured. 

Meantime  Spain  had  sent  a  few  warships  through  the  Suez   Another 
Canal.     It  was  said  that  they  were  to  go  to  the  Philippines   ^tnish 
to   dispute   for  those  islands  with  Admiral   Dewey's   fleet. 
But  the  news  of  the  destruction  of  Cervera's  vessels  and  the 

* 

threat  to  send  an  American  squadron  to  Spain  induced  the 
Spanish  government  to  order  them  to  return  to  Spain. 

Such  in  brief  is  the  story  of  the  principal  doings  of  the  The  lessons. 
American  navy.  Never,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
has  sea  power  so  forcibly  and  so  completely  asserted  itself. 
The  lesson  is  one  full  of  instruction  to  the  American  people. 
Furthermore,  in  all  these  naval  operations,  in  the  creation  of 
a  whole  fleet  of  blockaders  and  cruisers,  in  caring  for  the 
health  of  the  men,  and  in  fighting  the  enemy,  there  was  not 
one  false  step. 

397.    The  Land  Campaigns.  —  As  soon  as  war  was  declared,   Organization 
President  McKinley  called  for  volunteers,  and  later  he  issued   ofthe 
a  second  call.    In  all,  over  two  hundred  thousand  volunteers 
were  mustered  into  the  service.     Veterans  of  the  Civil  War, 
on  both  sides  of  that  terrible  strife,  furnished  excellent  offi 
cers.     Oftentimes,  however,  inexperienced  men  were  placed 
in  charge  of  companies  and  regiments.    The  result  was  soon 


566 


National  Development 


[§397 


Nelson  A.  Miles 


Santiago 
expedition. 


apparent  in  the  terrible  state  of  the  health  of  the  soldiers 
of  many  regiments.     Furthermore,  the  army  had  no  great 

magazines  filled  with  modern 
weapons  and  modern  muni 
tions  of  war.  Volunteer  regi 
ments  were  armed  with  old- 
fashioned  weapons,  which 
placed  them  at  great  disad 
vantage  with  the  Spaniards. 
Young  men  of  all  walks  of 
life  eagerly  offered  their 
services.  Militia  regiments 
volunteered  in  bulk  or  most 
of  the.  members  of  such 
regiments  were  enrolled  in 
new  regiments  with  the  same 

designation.      The    regular   army  was   recruited  to  its  full 
strength  and  brought  to  the  east.     The  first  active  service 

in  the  field  was  in  the 
Santiago  campaign. 

The  navy  held  Cervera 
blockaded  in  Santiago  har 
bor  ;  but  it  was  necessary 
to  send  an  army  to  capture 
Santiago.  On  June  22  and 
23  fifteen  thousand  men 
under  General  W.  R.  Shafter 
landed  on  the  coast  not  far 
to  the  east  of  the  entrance 
to  the  harbor.  Most  of  these 
soldiers  were  regulars.  But 
there  were  several  volun 
teer  regiments,  among  them 
Roosevelt's  "  Rough  Riders."  They,  as  well  as  the  regular 
cavalry,  fought  on  foot.  June  24  the  cavalry  and  "  Rough 
Riders,"  advancing  toward  Santiago,  came  across  the 
Spaniards,  and  a  hot  skirmish  took  place.  In  the  end  the 


Wesley  Merritt 


i898] 


The  Land  Campaigns 


567 


enemy  was  driven  away.  The  roads  were  poor.  The  coun 
try  was  rough.  The  heat  was  terrible.  To  add  to  all  these 
obstacles  the  rains  set  in.  Nevertheless  the  heroic  little 
army  pressed  forward,  and  by  June  28  was  within  three 
or  four  miles  of  the  city.  On  July  i  Caney  and  San  Juan 
(san-hwan)  two  strongly  fortified  hills,  were  carried  by 
assault.  The  American  loss  was  heavy,  for  the  soldiers 
were  obliged  to  charge  across  valleys  and  up  steep  hills  in 
face  of  a  murderous  fire  from  the  Spaniards  stationed  in 
blockhouses  and  in  rifle  pits.  Reinforcements  were  hurried 
to  Shafter's  aid.  On  July  3  Cervera's  fleet,  which  might 
have  seriously  interfered  with 
the  Americans,  put  to  sea  and 
was  destroyed.  The  lines 
were  now  drawn  around  the 
city  until  the  intrenchments 
stretched  for  eight  miles. 
The  Cuban  insurgents  blocked 
the  roads  by  which  reinforce 
ments  might  reach  the  city. 
The  warships  threw  shells 
over  the  hills,  and  guns  were 
placed  in  position,  command 
ing  the  defenses.  The  garri 
son  surrendered  on  condition 
of  being  transported  to  Spain 

at  the  expense  of  the  United  States.  With  the  soldiers 
actually  in  Santiago  were  surrendered  others  in  outlying 
garrisons  in  eastern  Cuba.  July  17  Shafter  entered  the  city. 
The  surrender  came  in  good  time,  for  the  condition  of 
the  American  soldiers  was  deplorable.  Clad  in  clothes  un- 
suited  to  the  climate,  fed  on  food  equally  unsuited  to  the 
climate,  and  often  not  fed  at  all,  the  men  stood  hour  after 
hour  ankle  deep  in  mud,  —  sometimes  knee  deep  in  water, 
—  exposed  to  the  sun  and  the  rain.  At  night  they  slept  on 
the  water-soaked  ground  without  shelter  from  the  evening 
mists.  Fevers  attacked  them,  and  those  who  recovered 


W.  R.  Shafter 


Condition 
of  the 
soldiers. 


568 


National  Development 


[§397 


Invasion  of 
Porto  Rico. 


were  often  too  weak 
to  resist  ordinary  dis 
eases  and  the  terrible 
scourge  of  Cuba,  — 
yellow  fever.  Other 
regiments  were  sent  to 
take  their  places,  and 
the  heroes  of  Santiago 
were  brought  north 
to  a  camp  on  Long 
Island. 

Cervera's  fleet  de 
stroyed,  and  Santiago 
captured,  General  Nel 
son  A.  Miles,  a  veteran 
of  the  Civil  War  and 
now  commanding  the 
United  States  army, 
led  an  expedition  to 
Porto  Rico,  an  island 
of  abounding  fertility 
and  of  great  wealth. 
Instead  of  landing  near 
San  Juan,  the  fortified 
capital  of  the  island, 
he  disembarked 
(August  i)  near  Ponce 
(pon-tha)  on  the  other 
side  of  the  island,  and 
the  most  important 
town  of  Porto  Rico. 
Hardly  a  fight  oc 
curred.  The  Spanish 
troops  withdrew  and 
the  inhabitants  warmly 
welcomed  the  in 
vaders.  The  Amen- 


1898]  Conclusion  of  Hostilities  569 

cans,  admirably  led,  pressed  on  across  the  island,  when  the 
approach  of  peace  stopped  the  further  armed  invasion. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  Dewey's  brilliant  victory  was  The  fall  of 
received,  preparations  were  begun  to  send  him  the  soldiers  Manila- 
that  he  needed  to  capture  and  hold  Manila.  The  command  I8g8> 
of  the  army  was  given  to  General  Wesley  Merritt,  a  great 
soldier,  who,  like  Miles,  had  rendered  distinguished  service 
in  the  Civil  War.  It  proved  to  be  very  difficult  to  secure 
suitable  transports  on  the  Pacific  coast.  As  fast  as  troops 
and  transports  could  be  got  ready,  they  were  sent  from 
San  Francisco.  The  first  expedition  left  California  on 
May  25.  But  it  was  the  end  of  July  before  the  land  attack 
on  Manila  was  begun.  Meantime  the  insurgents,  for  there 
were  insurgents  in  the  Philippines  as  well  as  in  Cuba,  were 
blockading  the  city  on  the  land  side,  while  Dewey  blockaded 
it  from  the  water.  July  3  r  the  Spaniards  suddenly  attacked 
the  American  lines  in  the  darkness  of  the  night.  After  a 
hard  fight,  in  which  both  regulars  and  volunteers  did  splendid 
work,  the  enemy  was  beaten  off  with  heavy  loss.  Finally, 
on  August  13,  after  more  troops  had  arrived,  Dewey  and 
Merritt  made  a  joint  attack.  The  city  surrendered  after  a 
slight  resistance. 

398.   Conclusion    of    Hostilities.  —  July    26   the    French   signing  of 
ambassador   at   Washington,  on  behalf  of  Spain,  inquired  ^protocol, 
upon  what  terms  peace  might  be  had.     The  President  stated    l8gf^S 
the  conditions.     After  some  delay  on  the  part  of  Spain  these 
terms  were  set  down  in  a  preliminary  agreement  or  protocol, 
as  it  is  termed  by  the  diplomatists.     This  agreement  was 
signed  August  n.     It  provided  in  brief  (i)  that  Spain  shall 
relinquish  all  claim  of  sovereignty  and  title  to  Cuba  and  cede 
to  the  United  States  Porto  Rico  and  all  other  Spanish  West 
India  islands  and  an  island  in  the  Ladrones.      (2)   The  city, 
bay,  and  harbor  of  Manila  to  be  held  by  the  Americans 
until  a  final  agreement  as  to  the  Philippines  shall  be  made. 
(3)   Hostilities  shall  immediately  cease.     The  President  at 
once  issued  a  proclamation  directing  the  American  armies 
to  cease  further  aggressive  operations. 


570 


National  Development 


[§398 


The 

Revenue 

Act. 


The  war 
loan. 


Meantime  the  Manila  campaign  had  shown  the  strategic 
importance  of  Hawaii.  Before  this,  indeed,  Hawaii  and 
the  other  Sandwich  Islands  had  attracted  attention  in  the 
United  States.  American  capital  is  largely  invested  in  sugar 
and  other  plantations  in  those  islands,  and  the  white  men 
are  generally  of  American  parentage.  For  many  years  the 
natives  and  the  whites  lived  happily  together.  But  in  time 
less  wise  rulers  succeeded.  Successful  rebellion  was  the  re 
sult.  A  republic  was  instituted  and  annexation  to  the  United 
States  proposed.  For  some  time  the  matter  remained  un 
decided,  but  in  July,  1898,  Hawaii  was  declared  annexed  by 
joint  resolution.  This  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a 
commission  of  five,  of  whom  at  least  two  should  be  resident 
Hawaiians.  This  commission  shall  recommend  to  Congress 
such  legislation  as  may  seem  advisable.  Until  Congress 
shall  pass  legislation  of  this  kind  the  government  of  the 
islands  shall  be  carried  on  as  the  President  from  time  to 
time  may  direct.  There  are  forty-five  thousand  Chinese  and 
Japanese  in  the  islands,  forty  thousand  native  Hawaiians, 
and  only  five  thousand  English  speakers.  Captain  Mahan, 
the  greatest  authority  on  naval  strategy,  has  stated  that  the 
possession  of  these  islands  is  essential  for  our  protection. 
With  Hawaii  in  our  hands,  few  nations  can  attack  the  Pacific 
coast  of  the  United  States'. 

Plainly  the  fifty  million  dollars  would  not  long  support 
active  war.  Other  measures  were  necessary ;  new  taxes 
were  provided  and  a  loan  was  authorized.  The  new  taxes 
contained,  among  others,  provisions  for  annual  taxes  to  be 
paid  by  bankers,  brokers,  theatrical  managers  ;  stamps  must 
be  affixed  to  bank  checks,  stocks  and  bonds,  public  telephone 
messages,  telegrams,  and  patent  medicines ;  also  legacies 
were  taxed,  and  the  tax  on  beer  was  increased.  These 
taxes  were  very  successful  and,  at  one  time,  brought  in  two 
hundred  million  dollars  a  year.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  asked  for  public  subscriptions  to  a  loan  of  two  hundred 
million  three-per-cent  bonds  at  par.  Subscriptions  were 
received  for  as  small  amounts  as  twenty  dollars.  The 


1 900  ]  Pop  u  la  tion  5/1 

amount  subscribed  was  nearly  fourteen  hundred  millions. 
The  year  1897-1898  was  one  of  great  prosperity.  Espe 
cially  foreign  trade  increased,  exports  reaching  the  enormous 
total  of  twelve  hundred  million  dollars.  Of  this  total  more 
than  three  hundred  million  dollars  was  in  manufactured 
goods.  The  largest  single  export  was  grain.  Indeed,  so 
prosperous  was  the  country,  that  the  pressure  of  the  war 
was  scarcely  felt. 

On  December  10,  1898,  American  and  Spanish  com 
missioners  signed  a  treaty  of  peace  at  Paris.  Following 
the  terms  of  the  protocol  (p.  569)  Spain  gave  up  all  claim 
to  sovereignty  in  Cuba  and  ceded  Porto  Rico  and  other 
smaller  islands  to  the  United  States.  Before  news  of  the 
signing  of  the  protocol  could  reach  the  Philippines  the 
American  soldiers,  aided  by  the  fleet,  captured  Manila.  It 
was  now  arranged  that  Spain  should  cede  the  whole  Philip 
pine  group  to  the  United  States  and  should  receive  twenty 
million  dollars.  For  a  time  the  inhabitants  of  the  Philippine  The 
Islands,  or  some  of  them,  desired  to  be  an  independent  philiPPines- 
nation  and  resisted  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States. 
By  1902,  however,  peace  was  established  throughout  the 
islands. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  United  States  came  into  Cuba, 
the  possession  of  Cuba  under  a  pledge  to  give  independence  l898-i9°4- 
to  the  people  of  that  island.  This  did  not  prove  to  be 
possible  at  once  and  for  some  years  military  government 
was  in  force  there,  first  under  General  John  R.  Brooke  and 
later  under  Major  General  Leonard  A.  Wood.  In  1902, 
however,  the  United  States  troops  were  withdrawn  and  the 
island  was  turned  over  to  its  inhabitants  under  certain  restric 
tions  as  to  its  government  and  relations  with  other  nations. 
In  1904  arrangements  were  completed  for  giving  trade 
advantages  to  the  Cubans. 

399.    Population,  1900.  —  Since  1860  the  population  has    Numbers, 
more  than  doubled,  and  is  given  in  the  census  of  1900  as 
seventy-six    millions;    in   1880  it  was   fifty  millions.      The 
estimate  for  1900  includes  Alaska  but  does  not  include  the 


572  National  Development  [§  399 

Philippines,  Porto  Rico,  Hawaii,  and  other  islands ;  adding 
these  to  the  continental  part  of  the  United  States,  the  total 
population  is  estimated  at  about  eighty-five  millions.  Dur 
ing  the  Civil  War  immigration  fell  off,  but  as  soon  as  peace 
ful  conditions  again  prevailed  foreigners  began  to  come  into 
Immigration,  the  country  in  increased  numbers.  In  the  ten  years  ending 
with  1900,  nearly  four  million  immigrants  entered  the  United 
States.  This  was  a  smaller  number  than  came  in  the  ten 
years  preceding  1890,  but  since  1900  the  number  has  again 
risen  —  no  less  than  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thou 
sand  coming  in  the  year  1903.  In  1900  there  were  ten 
million  foreigners  living  in  the  country ;  these  formed  nearly 
fourteen  per  cent  of  the  population.  The  Germans  were 
the  most  numerous  of  any  one  race  with  two  and  one  half 
millions,  the  English  with  the  Norwegians  and  the  Swedes 
numbered  rather  less  than  two  millions,  —  a  total  Germanic 
foreign-born  population  of  nearly  four  and  one  half  millions. 
The  Celtic  foreign-born  population  was  nearly  two  millions, 
of  whom  the  Irish  formed  more  than  one  and  one  half 
million  ;  the  remainder  being  immigrants  from  Scotland  and 
Wales.  There  are  also  more  than  one  million  Canadians 
living  in  the  United  States ;  they  are  partly  of  English  and 
partly  of  French  extraction,  but  many  of  them  are  immi 
grants  from  Europe  who  have  tried  Canada  before  finally 
coming  to  the  United  States.  It  may  be  said,  as  the  result 
of  this  study  of  the  census  figures,  that  immigrants  of  Ger 
manic  and  Celtic  stocks  form  over  three  quarters  of  the 
total  foreign-born  population  of  the  country.  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  Italians,  Bohemians,  Hungarians,  and 
Russians  have  thronged  to  the  United  States  in  recent 
years,  no  less  than  one  half  million  landing  in  the  year  1903. 
The  conditions  of  living  in  the  South  still  prevent  immi 
gration  to  that  region,  although  there  is  some  improvement 
in  this  respect :  out  of  the  ten  million  immigrants  whose 
parentage  we  have  just  been  noting,  less  than  one  half 
million  dwell  in  the  old  slave  states.  These  are  the  figures 
as  given  in  the  official  tables,  but  many  of  those  who  are 


1 890]  Popu  lation  573 

here  enumerated  among  the  foreign-born  residents  of  the 
United  States  are  only  temporary  residents.  Hardy  fishermen 
come  from  the  Maritime  Provinces  of  Canada  every  spring 
to  man  the  fishing  vessels  of  New  England ;  other  Cana 
dians  come  to  work  in  the  fields  and  the  mills  of  the  North. 
Many  of  these  fishermen,  laborers,  and  mill  hands  return 
home  in  the  autumn,  and  others  remain  for  a  year  or  two 
only ;  they  all  appear  in  the  tables  as  residents.  Moreover, 
many  Canadian  fishermen  and  laborers  come  to  the  United 
States  summer  after  summer,  counting  each  time  as  one 
immigrant ;  in  this  way  one  man  may  often  be  represented 
in  the  tables  as  ten  or  more  immigrants.  The  same  thing  is 
true  of  the  Italians,  who  frequently  return  home  for  the  win 
ter  or  after  a  few  years  of  toil ;  these,  too,  appear  in  the 
lists  as  immigrants,  while,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  rather 
to  be  classed  as  visitors.  But  when  every  deduction  has 
been  made,  the  constant  influx  of  immigrants  has  been  one 
of  the  chief  factors  in  our  prosperity.  They  have  made 
possible  the  building  of  our  railroads,  mills,  and  warehouses  ; 
they  perform  much  of  the  work  required  in  running  our 
mills,  and  our  great  agricultural  and  grazing  establishments ; 
they  descend  into  our  mines  and  make  accessible  the  mineral 
wealth  of  the  country.  In  short,  the  value  of  the  work  done 
by  immigrants  in  building  up  American  industries  has  been 
enormous  ;  and  it  should  never  be  underestimated  in  a  con 
sideration  of  the  forces  which  have  made  the  United  States 
what  it  is.  Many  persons  think,  however,  that  the  time  has 
now  come  when  some  limitation  should  be  placed  on  immi 
gration. 

400.   Distribution  of  Population,  Area,  etc. — The  settled   Distribution 
area  of  the  continental  United  States  has  increased  from  a   ofpopula- 
little  over  one  million  square  miles  in  1860  to  two  million 
square  miles  in  1900.     At  the  same  time  the  urban  popula 
tion  has  greatly  increased  :  in  1860  about  sixteen  per  cent 
of  the  people  were  gathered  in  cities  and  towns;  in  1890 
thirty-three  per  cent  of  the  population  was  classed  as  urban. 
The    great   cities   have    all   grown.     New   York,    including   The  cities. 


574 


National  Development 


[§400 


Brooklyn,  contained  in  1900  nearly  three  and  one  half  mil 
lion  inhabitants,  or  more  than  the  total  population  of  the 
United  States  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  It  is 
now  the  second  city  in  the  world  in  point  of  numbers,  being 
exceeded  only  by  London.  The  growth  of  Chicago  has 
been  startling ;  in  thirty  years  its  population  increased  ten 
fold,  numbering  over  one  and  one  half  million  in  1900;  it 
is  now  the  second  city  in  the  United  States  and  the  fifth  in 
the  world.  The  population  of  Philadelphia  has  also  doubled 
in  thirty  years,  and  stood  at  over  a  million  in  1900. 

The  center  of  population  has  been  affected  by  both  the 
circumstances  just  noted  :  the  increase  of  the  settled  area, 
mainly  in  the  West,  and  the  great  increase  in  the  urban  popu- 


Center  of 
population. 


Expansion  of 
the  railroad 
system. 


The  Brooklyn  Bridge 

lation,  which  has  been  confined  mainly  to  the  states  east  of 
the  Mississippi.  In  thirty  years  the  point  denoting  the  cen 
ter  of  population  has  moved  westward  more  than  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles,  and  was  near  Columbus,  Indiana,  in 
1900.  It  should  be  rioted,  however,  that  its  westward  move 
ment  in  the  decade  ending  in  1900  was  less  than  in  any 
other  decade  since  the  taking  of  the  first  census  in  1790. 
Indeed,  the  increase  in  the  population  of  the  country  east 
of  Indiana  has  been  so  much  greater  than  the  growth  of 
population  west  of  that  state,  that  the  center  of  population 
is  now  practically  stationary. 

401.  Transportation,  1900.  —  Hand  in  hand  with  this 
great  development  in  population,  this  growth  of  cities,  and 
this  increase  of  cultivated  land,  the  railroads  have  multiplied 
until  the  United  States  contained  in  1900  one  half  of  the 


Density  of  Population,   1900 

575 


576 


National  Development 


[§401 


Regulation 
of  railroad 
rates. 


railroad  mileage  of  the  world.  In  1860  there  were  thirty 
thousand  miles  of  railway  in  the  United  States;  in  1900 
there  were  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  miles.  With  this 
great  expansion  of  the  railway  system,  the  service  has  con 
stantly  been  improved.  Charges  for  the  transportation  of 
passengers  and  freight  have  enormously  decreased,  and  with 
them  rates  on  water  transportation  have  also  declined.  In 
1880,  for  example,  it  cost  nineteen  cents  to  carry  a  bushel 

of  wheat  from  Chicago 
to  New  York  by  rail ;  in 
1900  it  cost  less  than 
ten  cents. 

These  low  rates  were 
possible,  of  course,  only 
in  those  sections  of  the 
country  where  there  was 
an  enormous  traffic ;  in 
those  portions  of  the 
country  which  were  re 
cently  settled,  or  were 
devoted  mainly  to  agri 
culture,  the  railroad  com 
panies  could  not  carry 
goods  on  such  favorable 
terms.  This  was  espe 
cially  true  in  the  purely 
agricultural  states  of  the 
Northwest.  The  farmers 
of  those  regions  banded  together  into  societies  termed 
"granges,"  and  sought,  by  legislation,  to  compel  the  rail 
roads  to  lower  their  charges  to  rates  which  would  not  repay 
the  cost  of  transportation.  This  "  granger  legislation,"  as  it 
was  called,  compelled  the  roads  to  diminish  expenses  in 
every  way.  It  resulted  in  a  great  decrease  in  the  efficiency 
of  the  service,  and  put  an  end  to  railroad  building  in  those 
portions  of  the  country. 

The  relations  of  the  railroad  corporations  to  the  people 


1900]  Industrial  Development  577 

also  aroused  attention  in  the  East,  especially  in  Massa 
chusetts,  where  a  railroad  commission  was  instituted  by  act 
of  the  state  legislature.  At  first  the  functions  of  this  body 
were  largely  conciliatory  and  advisory  ;  the  system  worked 
well  for  both  the  people  and  the  railroads,  and,  as  time  went  interstate 

on,  the  powers  of  the   commission  were  enlarged.     Other   Commerce 

,  Commission, 

states   acted   on   similar   lines,  and,  m   1887,   the   federal   I887> 

Congress  established  a  national  commission  to  regulate 
interstate  commerce.  This  last  commission  has  authority 
to  prohibit  discriminating  rates,  the  "pooling"  of  traffic,. 
and  the  division  of  receipts.  These  processes  had  been 
resorted  to  by  the  great  railway  systems  to  avoid  compe 
tition,  and  worked  to  the  undue  favoring  of  large  shippers  Analysis  of 

of  goods  and  large  centers  of  traffic.     The  Interstate  Com-   railroad 

.     .          .    .          business, 
merce  Commission  has  accomplished  some  good,  though  less 

than  its  promoters  expected.  The  tendency  of  recent  years 
has  been  to  join  together  in  great  corporations  or  trusts  the 
railroad  systems  of  the  several  sections. 

Most  of  the  effects  of  the  marvelous  change  produced  by 
steam  transportation  have  been  confined  to  the  northeastern 
section  of  the  country  :  one  half  of  the  passenger  railway 
movement  of  the  United  States  is  in  the  region  east  of 
the  Alleghanies  and  north  of  the  Potomac  ;  another  quarter 
is  confined  to  the  four  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
and  Illinois  —  in  other  words,  three  quarters  of  the  whole 
movement  is  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Poto 
mac  and  the  Ohio;  the  South  contributes  but  one  eighth 
and  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  gives 
the  rest.  The  cause  of  the  industrial  activity  in  the  north-  Manufactur- 

eastern  states  indicated  by  these  figures  is  to  be  found  in  the   lng  mdus" 

tries, 
great  development  of  manufacturing,   milling,  and  mining 

industries  in  that  region. 

402.  Industrial  Development,  1860-1900.  —  In  1860  the 
manufactured  products  of  the  United  States  were  valued  at 
slightly  over  four  billion  dollars;  in  1900  the  estimate  had  risen 
to  over  thirteen  billion  dollars,  —  the  United  States  then  ex 
ceeding  in  the  total  value  of  its  manufactures  every  foreign 


578  National  Development  [§  404 

country,  and  also  in  the  value  of  manufactured  articles  in 
proportion  to  the  total  population.  This  expansion  is  only 
partially  shown  by  the  increase  in  value  of  the  manufactured 

Iron.  product,  as  prices  of  these  commodities  have  very  materially 

declined  since  1860.  The  most  remarkable  case  of  growth 
in  this  period  is  seen  in  the  iron  and  steel  industries.  The 
amount  of  pig  iron  produced  in  1860  was  less  than  one 
million  tons;  in  1880  it  had  risen  to  over  four  million  tons, 
and  in  1900  to1  over  thirteen  million  tons.  In  1890  Great 
Britain,  which  had  heretofore  been  the  largest  producer  of 
iron  in  the  world,  fell  behind,  and  took  second  place.  The 

Steel.  increase  in  the  production  of  steel  has  been  even  greater : 

in  1865  it  was  thirteen  thousand  tons,  in  1880  it  was  over 
one  million  tons,  and  in  1900  it  was  over  ten  million  tons. 
This  remarkable  growth  has  been  due  to  several  causes, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  cheapening  of  the  cost 
of  pig  iron  by  improvements  in  the  construction  of  the  blast 
furnaces,  which  have  brought  about  great  economies  in  the 
use  of  fuel.  The  application  of  scientific  methods,  espe 
cially  the  Bessemer  process,  and  the  use  of  improved  appli 
ances  in  every  stage  of  production,  have  greatly  contributed 
to  this  marvelous  result,  which  has  been  made  possible  by 
the  access  to  the  great  markets  of  the  United  States  without 
fear  of  foreign  competition.  Indeed,  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely 
that  in  the  near  future  steel  will  be  produced  in  America  at 
a  lower  cost  than  in  either  Great  Britain  or  Germany,  not 
withstanding  the  comparatively  low  wages  which  operatives 
earn  in  those  countries. 

Agricultural         403.  Agricultural  Development,  1860-1900. — This  increase 

industries.  m  productive  capacity  has  not  been  confined  to  manufactur 
ing  and  mining  industries  ;  there  has  also  been  an  extraordi 
nary  development  in  agricultural  production.  The  area 
under  cultivation  has  doubled  since  the  Civil  War,  and  the 
application  of  better  methods  has  also  greatly  affected  the 
cultivation  of  the  more  important  staples.  For  years  agri 
culture  was  carried  on  by  poor  and  wasteful  methods,  but 
lately  the  application  of  scientific  methods  in  large  sections 


1890]  Prosperity  579 

of  the  country  has  enabled  the  cultivator  to  win  larger  re 
turns  from  his  land,  although  not  so  large  proportionate 
returns  from  the  application  of  labor  and  capital  to  the  land. 
The  ruder  system  of  the  earlier  time  was  better  suited  to  the 
conditions  then  prevailing  —  a  fact  which  foreign  critics  have 
invariably  overlooked.  They  always  forget  that  the  problem 
which  the  Western  farmer  had  to  face  until  recent  years  was 
how  much  he  could  get  in  return  for  a  given  amount  of 
effort,  and  not  how  much  he  could  gain  from  a  certain 
amount  of  land  by  the  application  of  labor  and  capital. 
Land  was  then  abundant  and  easy  to  acquire,  while  labor 
and  capital  were  both  scarce  and  difficult  to  obtain.  In 
1865  the  United  States  produced  about  one  billion  bushels 
of  corn ;  in  1890  it  produced  two  and  one  half  billion 
bushels.  The  largest  crop  of  cotton  produced  by  slave 
labor  (1859)  was  about  four  and  one  half  million  bales;  in 
1899,  under  free  labor,  the  crop  was  over  eleven  million 
bales. 

404.    Prosperity,  1900. — The  national  income  and  ex-   National  in- 
penditures  have  increased  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  popu 
lation.     The  income  of  the  federal  government  in  1860  was   tures. 
fifty-five  million  dollars,  —  in  1900  it  was  over  five  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  million  dollars;    the  expenditures  in  1860 
were  sixty-five   million  dollars,  —  in    1900  they  were    four 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  million  dollars.     The  exports  and 
imports  more  than  doubled  in  the  forty  years  under  review, 
and  amounted  to  about  two  thousand  millions  each,  in  1900 
the  exports  exceeded  the  imports  by  five  hundred  millions. 

The  national  debt  of  the  United  States  in  1900  was  nearly   National 
eleven  hundred  million  dollars,  or  twelve  dollars  per  head.   debtt 
This  total  includes  the  paper  money  issued  by  the  govern 
ment  and  the  interest-bearing  debt.     The  aggregate  debt 
of  the   several  states,  counties,  municipalities,   and  school 
districts  now  exceeds  that  of  the  nation  as  a  whole  ;  in  1900 
the  former  was  over  one  billion  dollars,  or  a  little  over  eigh 
teen  dollars  per  head.     It  will  be  interesting  in  this  connec 
tion  to  cite  a  few  figures  by  way  of  comparison.     They  are 


58o 


National  Development 


[§405 


Wealth  of 
the  United 
States. 


taken  from  the  work  of  Mulhall,  a  British  statistician,  and 
certainly  do  not  overstate  the  case  in  favor  of  the  United 
States. 

Mulhall  estimates  the  wealth,  debt,  and  ratio  of  debt  to 
wealth  of  the  four  leading  nations  as  follows  (the  figures  are 
pounds  sterling) :  — 


MILLIONS  (POUNDS  STERLING) 

RATIO  OF 

RATIO  OF 

COUNTRY 

DEBT  TO 

WEALTH  TO 

/""                                                                                  ^ 

WEALTH 

DEBT 

WEALTH 

INHABITANTS 

United  States 

16,350 

378 

2-3 

5-3 

Great  Britain 

1  1,  806 

638 

5-3 

16.0 

France 

9,690 

1214 

12.5 

3i-5 

Germany 

8,042 

H5 

1.4 

2.2 

The  banking  capital  of  the  United  States  exceeds  that  of 
Great  Britain  and  there  is  more  gold  in  the  United  States 
than  in  Great  Britain.  The  American  post  office  carries 
nearly  as  much  mail  matter  as  all  the  post  offices  of  Europe. 
Finally,  the  average  earnings  of  an  inhabitant  of  the  United 
States  are  given  by  this  foreign  compiler  as  almost  exactly 
double  those  of  an  average  inhabitant  of  Europe. 

The  meaning  of  the  facts  as  to  production  and  wealth 
given  in  the  preceding  sections  can  be  best  understood, 
perhaps,  in  the  light  of  a  computation  made  by  Edward 
Atkinson,  the  American  statistician.  He  states  that  a  "  por- 
Comparative  tion,"  consisting  of  food,  fuel,  and  materials  for  clothing, 
which  corresponds  to  the  average  daily  consumption  of  arti 
sans  and  mechanics  in  New  England,  could  be  purchased 
in  1860  for  thirty-one  cents,  and  in  1890  for  thirty  cents, 
although  in  the  meantime  the  average  daily  wage  has  in 
creased  from  one  dollar  and  sixty  cents  to  two*  dollars  and 
sixty  cents.  Since  then  both  wages  and  the  cost  of  living 
have  somewhat  increased. 

405.  McKinley  and  Roosevelt,  1900-04. — In  Novem 
ber,  1900,  William  McKinley  and  Theodore  Roosevelt  were 
elected  President  and  Vice  President  by  a  very  large  major- 


prices. 


I900] 


McKinley  and  Roosevelt 


58i 


ity  over  the  Democratic  candidates.    On  September  6,  1901 
President  McKinley  was  murdered  by  an  insane  man,  while    Death  of 
attending  the  Pan-American  Fair  at  Buffalo  in  the  state  of 


President  -McKinley 

New  York.     By  the  untimely  death  of  this  kindly  and  able 
chief  magistrate,  Roosevelt  became  President. 

The  turn  of  the  century  saw  a  rising  spirit  of  unrest  in   The  United 
China  which  ended  in  a  movement  against  the  introduction   ?!?***.* 

•      World 

of  foreign  methods  and  modern  reforms  which  is  known  as   power,  1900. 
the  Boxer  Rebellion.     This  finally  took  the  form  of  an  attack 
on  the  foreign  embassies  in   Pekin,  the   capital  of  China. 


582 


National  Development 


[§406 


The  coal 
strike,  1902. 


The  Alaskan 

Boundary, 

1903. 


The  United  States,  the  principal  nations  of  Europe,  and  Ja 
pan,  united  to  rescue  their  representatives  from  the  Chinese. 
This  was  done  with  some  difficulty ;  but  the  incident  is  es 
pecially  interesting  to  Americans  because  it  was  the  first 
time  that  any  considerable  body  of  American  soldiers  found 
themselves  acting  in  company  with  troops  from  Russia,  Ger 
many,  France,  Great  Britain,  and  Japan,  or,  indeed,  from 
any  foreign  country.  It  marks  the  entrance  of  the  United 
States  into  the  arena  as  a  world  power  and  the  breaking 
down  of  that  policy  of  isolation  which  was  dear  to  Wash 
ington  and  to  Jefferson ;  but  it  is  very  possible  that  if  these 
great  men  were  now  living,  they  would  view  the  matter  very 
differently  from  what  they  did  one  hundred  and  more  years 
ago. 

The  summer  of  1902  also  witnessed  the  most  far-reaching 
strike  in  the  history  of  the  country,  when  the  miners  of  an 
thracite  coal  refused  longer  to  work  on  the  conditions  offered 
them  by  the  owners  of  the  mines  or  by  those  who  operated 
them.  At  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  great  hardship  would  be 
caused  throughout  the  North  by  the  lack  of  the  fuel  which 
is  used  for  heating  houses.  President  Roosevelt,  however, 
interfered  and  appointed  five  commissioners  to  hear  the 
contending  parties  and  to  propose,  if  possible,  a  basis  of 
settlement  between  them,  on  the  understanding  that  in  the 
meantime  the  striking  miners  should  return  to  work.  In 
this  way  suffering  was  lessened,  and  Congress,  by  voting 
money  for  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  Commission, 
ratified  the  action  of  the  President. 

406.  Alaska  and  Panama.: — In  the  winter  of  1896-97, 
gold  was  discovered  in  the  valley  of  the  Klondike  River,  in 
Canada,  two  thousand  miles  up  the  Yukon  River,  which 
flows  through  Alaska.  Soon  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
gold  dust  began  coming  from  this  region  and  also  from  Cape 
Nome  on  the  northwest  coast  of  Alaska.  It  happened  that 
the  easiest  way  to  the  Klondike  was  over  territory  which 
was  partly  in  Alaska  and  partly  in  Canada.  This  led  to  a 
new  examination  of  the  frontier  between  the  possessions  of 


1904]  Alaska  and  Panama  583 

the  United  States  and  of  Great  Britain  in  that  part  of  the 
world.  After  long  negotiation,  the  matter  was  settled  mainly 
in  favor  of  the  United  States  by  a  joint  court  which  sat  at 
London  in  1903. 

Almost  from  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Pacific  by  'The 
Balboa,  proposals  have  been  made  for  digging  a  canal  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  But  the  difficulties  offered  by  the 
steep  mountains  and  the  rivers  subject  to  sudden  floods  post 
poned  the  carrying  out  of  this  project,  although  the  distance 
from  Panama,  on  the  Pacific,  to  Colon,  on  the  Caribbean,  is 
only  forty-six  miles  in  a.  straight  line.  At  length,  in  1881, 
Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  a  French  engineer  under  whose  direc 
tion  the  Suez  Canal  had  been  dug,  undertook  the  cutting  of 
a  sea-level  canal  across  the  Isthmus.  This  plan  was  aban 
doned,  however,  after  a  great  deal  of  money  had  been  spent. 
A  second  French  company  then  undertook  the  construction 
of  a  canal  with  locks.  The  people  of  the  United  States 
have  always  been  greatly  interested  in  the  project  of  making 
a  canal  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  and  since  the 
acquisition  of  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines  this  interest  has, 
if  anything,  increased.  Before  1904,  however,  obstacles  of 
one  sort  or  another  have  prevented  the  realization  of  this 
desire.  In  this  year,  however,  events  so  shaped  themselves 
that  it  became  possible  for  the  United  States  to  enter  upon 
the  construction  of  this  important  waterway. 

The  chief  causes  of  our  prosperity  in  the  past  have  been  Causes  of 
the  frugality,  energy,  and  personal  independence  of  our  peo-  our 
pie ;  the  rapid  development  of  invention ;  equality  of  all 
men  in  the  eye  of  the  law  ;  free  institutions  and  the  break 
ing  loose  from  the  prejudices  of  European  societies.  These 
qualities,  inherent  in  the  races  from  which  the  American  peo 
ple  has  sprung,  without  the  barriers  to  human  activity  which 
surrounded  them  in  their  old  homes,  have  been  combined  in 
the  United  States  with  a  good  climate,  splendid  soil,  wonder 
ful  mineral  resources,  and  free  trade  over  an  enormous  extent 
of  territory.  These  conditions  have  made  the  American 
people  what  it  is  ;  they  are  all  still  present  in  the  inhabitants 


584  National  Development  [§  406 

of  the  United  States  and  in  the  country  in  which  they  dwell. 
Great  as  has  been  the  progress  of  the  American  nation  in 
the  past,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  its  achieve 
ments  in  the  arts  of  peace  have  but  just  begun. 


Questions  and  Topics  585 

SUGGESTIVE  QUESTIONS  AND  TOPICS 
§  375.  THE  SITUATION  IN  1865 

Classify  the  problems  which  met  the  American  people  in  1865 
under  four  heads  ;  make  clear  statements  of  each  problem  in  note 
book,  and  enter  under  it  the  specific  efforts  towards  solution  made 
between  1865  and  the  present  time.  In  handling  which  of  these 
problems  has  the  American  people  shown  marked  ability?  great  lack 
of  intelligence? 

§§  376-392.  CONSTITUTIONAL  AND  POLITICAL  HISTORY,  1865-97 

a.  Is  it  true  that  our  pension  appropriations  demand   from   the 
people  an  amount  sufficient  to  support  one  of  the  standing  armies  of 
Europe? 

b.  What  well-founded  objection  could  be  made  to  Congress's  pledge 
"  to  redeem  the  public  obligations  in  coin  at  their  face  value  "  ? 

c.  What  were  the  constitutional  difficulties  in  the  way  of  reconstruc 
tion?     Look  up  the  following  theories:  the  Presidential,  the  Congres 
sional,    Sumner's,    Stevens's,    the    Davis-Wade   theory,   the    Supreme 
Court    theory.     Was   the    reconstruction  policy  of  Johnson   identical 
with  that  of  Lincoln?     In  your  opinion,  was  reunion  possible  through 
any  such  policy? 

d.  The  Fourteenth  Amendment :    enumerate  the  legal  rights  with 
which   the   negro  was  invested   by  the   first  sentence;    what   are  the 
"  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of   the  United  States "  ?    what 
provisions   of  §  I    are   found   in  the   Fifth  Amendment?    define  "a 
person." 

e.  How  was  slavery  extinguished  in  Kentucky  and  Delaware? 

f.  Discuss  the  wisdom    of  granting    the    franchise    to    immigrants 
before  naturalization.     Has  the  time  come  to  place  some  limitation  on 
immigration  ? 

g.  What  are  the  two  great  sources  of  national  revenue?     Explain 
each  and  give  arguments  for  and  against  it.     Enumerate  other  possible 
methods  of  taxation  and  discuss  their  merits;   which  of  them  are  for 
bidden  by  the  Constitution,  and  why? 

h.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  revenue  tariff  and  a  protective 
tariff?  What  were  the  two  foremost  protective  states,  and  why?  What 
is  their  attitude  to-day,  and  why?  Characterize  the  arguments  in  favor 
of  the  first  tariff;  how  do  they  differ  from  present-day  arguments? 

i.  Explain  tonnage,  discrimination,  registry,  clearance.  State  effects 
of  tonnage  and  discriminating  acts  upon  our  shipping  interests;  upon 
foreign  shipping  interests. 

j.    Discuss  the  President's  "  power  of  removal."     Has  the  President 


586  National  Development 

the  right  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  a  law  by  laying  the  case  before 
the  Federal  Judiciary?  Discuss  the  expediency  of  his  so  doing. 

k.  What  are  the  three  great  political  issues  of  to-day?  Trace  the 
history  of  each  dispute  and  forecast  the  future. 

/.  Prepare  entries  in  note-book  under  "  Negro  Slavery  "  for  con 
tinuous  recitation  under  the  following  heads:  (i)  origin,  (2)  position 
in  1760,  (3)  position  in  1800,  (4)  influence  of  cotton  culture  on, 
(5)  rise  of  the  abolitionists,  (6)  right  of  petition,  (7)  territorial  ex 
pansion,  (8)  Texas,  (9)  Mexican  cessions,  (10)  compromise  of  1820, 
of  1850,  (n)  fugitive  slaves,  (12)  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  (13)  struggle 
in  Kansas,  (14)  rise  of  the  Republican  party,  (15)  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  (16)  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  (17)  amendments  to  the 
Constitution,  (18)  present  position  of  the  negro  in  the  South. 

§§  394-398.    THE  SPANISH  WAR 

a.  Was  the  war  inevitable?     Was  it  justifiable? 

b.  Had  you  been  a  senator  or  representative,  how  would  you  have 
voted  on  the  resolution  of  April  19?     Give  your  reasons  in  full. 

c.  Comment  on  the  statement  (p.  565)  that  "  never,  perhaps,  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  has  sea   power    so  forcibly  and    so    completely 
asserted  itself." 

d.  Why  are  the  Hawaiian  Islands  of  strategic  importance? 

e.  Do  you  think  that  the  United  States  should  or  should  not  have 
"  colonies"  ?     What  are  the  reasons  for  your  opinion? 

§§  399~4°4'    INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY,  1865-1900 

a.  What  influence  has  each  of  the  following  commodities  exerted 
upon   the   history   of    the   American   people:    (i)  corn,    (2)   cotton, 
(3)  tobacco,  (4)  wheat?     Trace  in  a  similar  way  the  influence  of  great 
inventions  and  improvements  in  industry:    (i)  the  cotton  gin,  (2)  the 
agricultural  machinery,   (3)   the  electric    telegraph,   (4)  the  railroad. 
Describe  the  influence  of  the  textile  industries  upon  our  history;   of 
the  iron  and  the  steel  industries. 

b.  Trace    the  growth  of  the  urban  population  from  1800   to   the 
present  clay.     How  do  you  account  for  the  increase?  in  your  opinion 
is  the  growth  of  cities  favorable  or  unfavorable  to  higher  civilization? 

c.  Tabulate  the  growth  of  the  chief  manufactures  of  the  states  which 
seceded  between  1865  and  the  present  day.     What  causes  tend  to  make 
the  South  a  manufacturing  region?     What  will  be  the  effect  of  the 
establishment  of  the  protected  industries  in  the  South? 

§§  405,  406.    RECENT  HISTORY 

a.  If  you  had  been  a  voter  in  1896,  how  would  you  have  voted, 
for  Bryan  or  for  McKinley?  Why? 


Questions  and  Topics  587 

b.  Could  the  United  States  have  refused  to  take  part  in  the  Chinese 
War? 

c.  Was    President    Roosevelt's    interference    in    the    coal    strike 
constitutional? 

d.  WThy  should  the  United  States  dig  the  Panama  Canal? 

GENERAL  QUESTIONS 

Review  in  note-book  all  entries  under  Civil  Service,  The  Tariff, 
Currency,  and  make  continuous  recitation  on  each  topic.  What 
headings  have  wholly  dropped  out  of  sight  since  1876?  What  powers 
have  you  gained  by  keeping  this  note-book  during  your  study  of 
American  history?  Can  you  devise  a  better  method  for  tracing  the 
origin  and  development  of  historical  institutions  and  movements? 
\Vhat  headings  should  you  recommend  that  have  not  been  mentioned 
in  the  questions? 


DECLARATION    OF   INDEPENDENCE 


In  Congress,  July  4, 

THE  UNANIMOUS  DECLARATION  OF  THE  THIRTEEN  UNITED  STATES 
OF  AMERICA, 

WHEN  in  the  Course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary  for  one 
people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected  them  with 
another,  and  to  assume  among  the  Powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate 
and  equal  station  to  which  the  Laws  of  Nature  and  of  Nature's  God 
entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that 
they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created 
equal,  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable 
Rights,  that  among  these  are  Life,  Liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  Happi 
ness.  That  to  secure  these  rights,  Governments  are  instituted  among 
Men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed, 
That  whenever  any  Form  of  Government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  Right  of  the  People  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  insti 
tute  new  Government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such  principles  and 
organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely 
to  effect  their  Safety  and  Happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate 
that  Governments  long  established  should  not  be  changed  for  light 
and  transient  causes  ;  and  accordingly  all  experience  hath  shown,  that 
mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to 
right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 
But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  invariably 
the  same  Object  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute  Des 
potism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to  throw  off  such  Government, 
and  to  provide  new  Guards  for  their  future  security.  —  Such  has  been 
the  patient  sufferance  of  these  Colonies;  and  such  is  now  the  necessity 
which  constrains  them  to  alter  their  former  Systems  of  Government. 
The  history  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated 
injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having  in  direct  object  the  establishment 
of  an  absolute  Tyranny  over  these  States.  To  prove  this,  Jet  Facts  be 
submitted  to  a  candid  world. 


ii  Declaration  of  Independence 

He  has  refused  his  Assent  to  Laws,  the  most  wholesome  and  neces 
sary  for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  Governors  to  pass  Laws  of  immediate  and 
pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his  Assent 
should  be  obtained;  and  when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected 
to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  Laws  for  the  accommodation  of  large 
districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the  right  of 
Representation  in  the  Legislature,  a  right  inestimable  to  them  and 
formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual,  uncom 
fortable,  and  distant  from  the  depository  of  their  Public  Records,  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compliance  with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  Representative  Houses  repeatedly,  for  opposing 
with  manly  firmness  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  people. 

He  has  refused  for  a  long  time,  after  such  dissolutions,  to  cause  others 
to  be  elected;  whereby  the  Legislative  Powers,  incapable  of  Annihila 
tion,  have  returned  to  the  People  at  large  for  their  exercise;  the  State 
remaining  in  the  mean  time  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from 
without,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States  ;  for 
that  purpose  obstructing  the  Laws  for  Naturalization  of  Foreigners; 
refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migration  hither,  and  raising 
the  conditions  of  new  Appropriations  of  Lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  Administration  of  Justice,  by  refusing  his 
Assent  to  Laws  for  establishing  Judiciary  Powers. 

He  has  made  Judges  dependent  on  his  Will  alone,  for  the  tenure  of 
their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  New  Offices,  and  sent  hither  swarms 
of  Officers  to  harass  our  People,  and  eat  out  their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times  of  peace,  Standing  Armies  without 
the  Consent  of  our  legislature. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  Military  independent  of  and  superior 
to  the  Civil  Power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign 
to  our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws ;  giving  his 
Assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation  : 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us  : 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  Trial,  from  Punishment  for  any 
Murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  Inhabitants  of  these  States: 

For  cutting  off  our  Trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world : 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  Consent : 

For  depriving  us  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits  of  Trial  by  Jury : 


Declaration  of  Independence  iii 

For  transporting  us  beyond  Seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended  offences : 

For  abolishing  the  free  System  of  English  Laws  in  a  neighbouring 
Province,  establishing  therein  an  Arbitrary  government,  and  enlarging 
its  Boundaries  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  instrument 
for  introducing  the  same  absolute  rule  into  these  Colonies : 

For  taking  away  our  Charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable  Laws, 
and  altering  fundamentally  the  Forms  of  our  Governments : 

For  suspending  our  own  Legislature,  and  declaring  themselves  in 
vested  with  Power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  Government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his  Pro 
tection  and  waging  War  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  Coasts,  burnt  our  towns,  and 
destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  mercenaries  to 
compleat  the  works  of  death,  desolation  and  tyranny,  already  begun 
with  circumstances  of  Cruelty  &  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most 
barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the  Head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow  Citizens  taken  Captive  on  the  high 
Seas  to  bear  Arms  against  their  Country,  to  become  the  executioners 
of  their  friends  and  Brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by  their  Hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and  has  endeav 
oured  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers,  the  merciless  Indian 
Savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare,  is  an  undistinguished  destruction 
of  all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  Oppressions  We  have  Petitioned  for  Redress 
in  the  most  humble  terms :  Our  repeated  Petitions  have  been  answered 
only  by  repeated  injury.  A  Prince,  whose  character  is  thus  marked  by 
every  act  which  may  define  a  Tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free 
People. 

Nor  have  We  been  wanting  in  attention  to  our  Brittish  brethren.  We 
have  warned  them  from  time  to  time  of  attempts  by  their  legislature  to 
extend  an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  reminded  them 
of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration  and  settlement  here.  We  have 
appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  magnanimity,  and  we  have  conjured 
them  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred  to  disavow  these  usurpations, 
which,  would  inevitably  interrupt  our  connections  and  correspondence. 
They  too  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity. 
We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity,  which  denounces  our 
Separation,  and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  Enemies 
in  War,  in  Peace  Friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  Representatives  of  the  united  States  of  America, 
in  General  Congress,  Assembled,  appealing  to  the  Supreme  Judge  of 
the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions,  do>  in  the  Name,  and  by 


iv  Declaration  of  Independence 

Authority  of  the  good  People  of  these  Colonies,  solemnly  publish  and 
declare,  That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  Right  ought  to  be  Free 
and  Independent  States;  that  they  are  Absolved  from  all  Allegiance  to 
the  British  Crown,  and  that  all  political  connection  between  them  and 
the  State  of  Great  Britain,  is  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved;  and 
that  as  Free  and  Independent  States,  they  have  full  Power  to  levy  War, 
conclude  Peace,  contract  Alliances,  establish  Commerce,  and  to  do  all 
ocher  Acts  and  Things  which  Independent  States  may  of  right  do. 
And  for  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the 
Protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our 
Lives,  our  Fortunes  and  our  sacred  Honor. 

JOHN   HANCOCK. 

New  Hampshire  —  JOSIAH  BARTLETT,  WM.  WHIPPLE,  MATTHEW 
THORNTON. 

Massachusetts  Bay — SAML.  ADAMS,  JOHN  ADAMS,  ROBT.  TREAT 
PAINE,  ELBRIDGE  GERRY. 

Rhode  Island — STEP.  HOPKINS,  WILLIAM  ELLERY. 

Connecticut  —  ROGER  SHERMAN,  SAM'EL  HUNTINGTON,  WM.  WILL 
IAMS,  OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 

New  York  —  WM.  FLOYD,  PHIL.  LIVINGSTON,  FRANS.  LEWIS,  LEWIS 
MORRIS. 

New  Jersey  —  RICHD.  STOCKTON,  JNO.  WTITHERSPOON,  FRAS.  HOP- 
KINSON,  JOHN  HART,  ABRA.  CLARK. 

Pennsylvania  —  ROBT.  MORRIS,  BENJAMIN  RUSH,  BENJA.  FRANK 
LIN,  JOHN  MORTON,  GEO.  CLYMER,  JAS.  SMITH,  GEO.  TAYLOR,  JAMES 
WILSON,  GEO.  Ross. 

Delaware  —  CESAR  RODNEY,  GEO.  READ,  THO.  M'KEAN. 

Maryland —  SAMUEL  CHASE,  WM.  PACA,  THOS.  STONE,  CHARLES 
CARROLL  of  Carrollton. 

Virginia  —  GEORGE  WYTHE,  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  TH.  JEFFERSON, 
BENJA.  HARRISON,  THOS.  NELSON,  jr.,  FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE, 
CARTER  BRAXTON. 

North  Carolina  —  WM.  HOOPER,  JOSEPH  HEWES,  JOHN  PENN. 

South  Carolina  —  EDWARD  RUTLEDGE,  THOS.  HEYWARD,  Junr.t 
THOMAS  LYNCH,  Junr.,  ARTHUR  MIDDLETON. 

Georgia  —  BUTTON  GWINNETT,  LYMAN  HALL,  GEO.  WALTON.  * 

1  This  arrangement  of  the  names  is  made  for  convenience.  The 
states  are  not  mentioned  in  the  original. 


CONSTITUTION 

OF  THE 

UNITED   STATES    OF   AMERICA* 


WE  THE  PEOPLE  of  the  United  States,  in  Order  to  form  a  more  perfect 
Union,  establish  Justice,  insure  domestic  Tranquility,  provide  for  the 
common  defence,  promote  the  general  Welfare,  and  secure  the  Bless 
ings  of  Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  Posterity,  do  ordain  and  estab 
lish  this  CONSTITUTION  for  the  United  States  of  America. 


ARTICLE.  I. 

SECTION.  I.  All  legislative  Powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives. 

SECTION.  2.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of 
Members  chosen  every  second  Year  by  the  People  of  the  several  States, 
and  the  Electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  Qualifications  requisite 
for  Electors  of  the  most  numerous  Branch  of  the  State  Legislature. 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  Age  of  twenty  five  Years,  and  been  seven  Years  a  Citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of 
that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  Taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according  to 
their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the 
whole  Number  of  free  Persons,  including  those  bound  to  Service  for  a 
Term  of  Years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three  fifths  of  all 
other  Persons.  The  actual  Enumeration  shall  be  made  within  three 
Years  after  the  first  Meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and 
within  every  subsequent  Term  of  ten  Years,  in  such  Manner  as  they 
shall  by  Law  direct.  The  number  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed 
one  for  every  thirty  Thousand,  but  each  State  shall  have  at  Least  one 

*  Reprinted  from  the  text  issued  by  the  State  Department. 
v 


vi  Constitution  of  the   United  States 

Representative;  and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be  made,  the  State 
cf  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  chuse  three,  Massachusetts 
eight,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one,  Connecticut  five, 
New-York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware  one, 
Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North  Carolina  five,  South  Carolina  five, 
and  Georgia  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  Representation  from  any  State,  the 
Executive  Authority  thereof  shall  issue  Writs  of  Election  to  fill  such 
Vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  chuse  their  Speaker  and  oth^r 
Officers;  and  shall  have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 

SECTION.  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of 
two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  for 
six  Years;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  Vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  Consequence  of  the 
first  Election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into  three 
Classes.  The  Seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  Class  shall  be  vacated 
at  the  Expiration  of  the  second  Year,  of  the  second  Class  at  the  Expira 
tion  of  the  fourth  Year,  and  of  the  third  Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the 
sixth  Year,  so  that  one  third  may  be  chosen  every  second  Year;  and  if 
Vacancies  happen  by  Resignation,  or  otherwise,  during  the  Recess  of 
the  Legislature  of  any  State,  the  Executive  thereof  may  make  tempo 
rary  Appointments  until  the  next  Meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which 
shall  then  fill  such  Vacancies. 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
Age  of  thirty  Years,  and  been  nine  Years  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of  that  State  for 
which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President  of  the 
Senate,  but  shall  have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

The  Senate  shall  chuse  their  other  Officers,  and  also  a  President  pro 
tempore,  in  the  Absence  of  the  Vice  President,  or  when  he  shall  exer 
cise  the  Office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to  try  all  Impeachments. 
When  sitting  for  that  Purpose,  they  shall  be  on  Oath  or  Affirmation. 
When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall 
preside :  And  no  Person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  Concurrence 
of  two  thirds  of  the  Members  present. 

Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment  shall  not  extend  further  than  to 
removal  from  Office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any  Office 
of  honor,  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United  States :  but  the  Party  con 
victed  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject  to  Indictment,  Trial, 
Judgment  and  Punishment,  according  to  Law. 

SECTION.  4.     The  Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding  Elections 


Constitution  of  the   United  States  vii 

for  Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by 
the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  Law 
make  or  alter  such  Regulations,  except  as  to  the  Places  of  chusing 
Senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  Year,  and  such 
Meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall 
by  Law  appoint  a  different  Day. 

SECTION.  5.  Each  House  shall  be  the  Judge  of  the  Elections,  Re 
turns  and  Qualifications  of  its  own  Members,  and  a  Majority  of  each 
shall  constitute  a  Quorum  to  do  Business;  but  a  smaller  Number  may 
adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  Attend 
ance  of  absent  Members,  in  such  Manner,  and  under  such  Penalties  as 
each  House  may  provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  Rules  of  its  Proceedings,  punish  its 
Members  for  disorderly  Behaviour,  and,  with  the  Concurrence  of  two 
thirds,  expel  a  member. 

Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its  Proceedings,  and  from  time 
to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  Parts  as  may  in  their  Judgment 
require  Secrecy;  and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the  Members  of  either 
House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  Desire  of  one  fifth  of  those  Present, 
be  entered  on  the  Journal. 

Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of  Congress,  shall,  without  the 
Consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any 
other  Place  than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SECTION.  6.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a  Com 
pensation  for  their  Services,  to  be  ascertained  by  Law,  and  paid  out  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall  in  all  Cases,  except 
Treason,  Felony  and  Breach  of  the  Peace,  be  privileged  from  Arrest 
during  their  Attendance  at  the  Session  of  their  respective  Houses,  and 
in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same;  and  for  any  Speech  or 
Debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other 
Place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  Time  for  which  he 
was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  Office  under  the  Authority  of  the 
United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the  Emoluments 
whereof  shall  have  been  encreased  during  such  time;  and  no  Person 
holding  any  Office  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  a  Member  of 
either  House  during  his  Continuance  in  Office. 

SECTION.  7.  All  Bills  for  raising  Revenue  shall  originate  in  the 
House  of  Representatives;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with 
Amendments  as  on  other  Bills. 

Every  Bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a  Law,  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  If  he  approve  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if 


viii  Constitution  of  the   United  States 

not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  Objections,  to  that  House  in  which  it 
shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  Objections  at  large  on  their 
Journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such  Reconsideration 
two  thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  Bill,  it  shall  be  sent, 
together  with  the  Objections,  to  the  other  House,  by  which  it  shall  like 
wise  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved  by  two  thirds  of  that  House,  it 
shall  become  a  Law.  But  in  all  such  Cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses 
shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  Nays,  and  the  Names  of  the  Persons 
voting  for  and  against  the  Bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of  each 
House  respectively.  If  any  Bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President 
within  ten  Days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented 
to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  Law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it, 
unless  the  Congress  by  their  Adjournment  prevent  its  Return,  in  which 
Case  it  shall  not  be  a  Law. 

Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote  to  which  the  Concurrence  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on  a 
question  of  Adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States;  and  before  the  Same  shall  take  Effect,  shall  be  approved 
by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  repassed  by  two  thirds 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  according  to  the  Rules 
and  Limitations  prescribed  in  the  Case  of  a  Bill. 

SECTION.  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  To  lay  and  collect 
Taxes,  Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises,  to  pay  the  Debts  and  provide 
for  the  common  Defence  and  general  Welfare  of  the  United  States; 
but  all  Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States; 

To  borrow  Money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States; 

To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Nations,  and  among  the  several 
States,  and  with  the  Indian  Tribes; 

To  establish  an  uniform  Rule  of  Naturalization,  and  uniform  Laws 
on  the  subject  of  Bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States; 

To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  Coin,  and 
fix  the  Standard  of  Weights  and  Measures; 

To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  Securities  and 
current  Coin  of  the  United  States; 

To  establish  Post  Offices  and  post  Roads; 

To  promote  the  Progress  of  Science  and  useful  Arts,  by  securing  for 
limited  Times  to  Authors  and  Inventors  the  exclusive  Right  to  their 
respective  Writings  and  Discoveries; 

To  constitute  Tribunals  inferior  to  the  supreme  Court; 

To  define  and  punish  Piracies  and  Felonies  committed  on  the  high 
Seas,  and  Offences  against  the  Law  of  Nations; 

To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal,  and  make 
Rules  concerning  Captures  on  Land  and  Water; 


Constitution  of  the  United  States  ix 

To  raise  and  support  Armies,  but  no  Appropriation  of  Money  to  that 
Use  shall  be  for  a  longer  Term  than  two  Years; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy; 

To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and  Regulation  of  the  land  and 
naval  Forces; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia  to  execute  the  Laws  of  the 
Union,  suppress  Insurrections  and  repel  Invasions; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining,  the  Militia,  and 
for  governing  such  Part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  Service  of 
the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively,  the  Appointment 
of  the  Officers,  and  the  Authority  of  training  the  Militia  according  to 
the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress; 

To  exercise  exclusive  Legislation  in  all  Cases  whatsoever,  over  such 
District  (not  exceeding  ten  Miles  square)  as  may,  by  Cession  of  partic 
ular  States,  and  the  Acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  Seat  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like  Authority  over 
all  Places  purchased  by  the  Consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in 
which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  Erection  of  Forts,  Magazines,  Arse 
nals,  dock- Yards,  and  other  needful  Buildings;  — And 

To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
into  Execution  the  foregoing  Powers,  and  all  other  Powers  vested  by 
this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
Department  or  Officer  thereof. 

SECTION.  9.  The  Migration  or  Importation  of  such  Persons  as  any 
of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  pro 
hibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  Year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  eight,  but  a  Tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  Importation,  not 
exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  Person. 

The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when  in  Cases  of  Rebellion  or  Invasion  the  public  Safety  may 
require  it. 

No  Bill  of  Attainder  or  ex  post  facto  Law  shall  be  passed. 

No  Capitation,  or  other  direct,  Tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  Proportion 
to  the  Census  or  Enumeration  herein  before  directed  to  be  taken. 

No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  Articles  exported  from  any  State. 

No  Preference  shall  be  given  by  any  Regulation  of  Commerce  or 
Revenue  to  the  Ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another:  nor  shall 
Vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay 
Duties  in  another. 

No  Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in  Consequence 
of  Appropriations  made  by  Law;  and  a  regular  Statement  and  Account 
of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  all  public  Money  shall  be  pub 
lished  from  time  to  time. 

No  Title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States :  And  no 


x  Constitution  of  the   United  States 

Person  holding  any  Office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them,  shall,  without 
the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present,  Emolument,  Office, 
or  Title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  King,  Prince,  or  foreign  State. 

SECTION.  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  Treaty,  Alliance,  or 
Confederation;  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal;  coin  Money; 
emit  Bills  of  Credit;  make  any  Thing  but  gold  and  silver  Coin  a 
Tender  in  Payment  of  Debts;  pass  any  Bill  of  Attainder,  ex  post  facto 
Law,  or  Law  impairing  the  Obligation  of  Contracts,  or  grant  any  Title 
of  Nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  Im 
posts  or  Duties  on  Imports  or  Exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  Laws  :  and  the  net  Produce  of  all 
Duties  and  Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  Imports  or  Exports,  shall  be 
for  the  Use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  all  such  Laws 
shall  be  subject  to  the  Revision  and  Controul  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  Duty  of 
Tonnage,  keep  Troops,  or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace,  enter  into 
any  Agreement  or  Compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a  foreign 
Power,  or  engage  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent 
Danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE.  II. 

SECTION.  I.  The  executive  Power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  Office  during  the 
Term  of  four  Years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice  President,  chosen  for 
the  same  Term,  be  elected,  as  follows 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  Manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof 
may  direct,  a  Number  of  Electors,  equal  to  the  whole  Number  of  Sena 
tors  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the 
Congress :  but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or  Person  holding  an 
Office  of  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  appointed 
an  Elector. 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by  Ballot 
for  two  Persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  Inhabitant  of  the 
same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make  a  List  of  all  the  Per 
sons  voted  for,  and  of  the  Number  of  Votes  for  each ;  which  List  they 
shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  Seat  of  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate. 
The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  Presence  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  Certificates,  and  the  Votes 
shall  then  be  counted.  The  Person  having  the  greatest  Number  of 
Votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  Number  be  a  Majority  of  the 
whole  Number  of  Electors  appointed;  and  if  there  be  more  than  one 


Constitution  of  the   United  States  xi 

who  have  such  Majority,  and  have  an  equal  Number  of  Votes,  then  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately  chuse  by  Ballot  one  of 
them  for  President;  and  if  no  Person  have  a  Majority,  then  from  the 
five  highest  on  the  List  the  said  House  shall  in  like  Manner  chuse  the 
President.  But  in  chusing  the  President,  the  Votes  shall  be  taken  by 
States,  the  Representation  from  each  State  having  one  Vote;  A  quorum 
for  this  Purpose  shall  consist  of  a  Member  or  Members  from  two  thirds 
of  the  States,  and  a  Majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
Choice.  In  every  Case,  after  the  Choice  of  the  President,  the  Person 
having  the  greatest  Number  of  Votes  of  the  Electors  shall  be  the  Vice 
President.  But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal 
Votes,  the  Senate  shall  chuse  from  them  by  Ballot  the  Vice  President. 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time  of  chusing  the  Electors,  and 
the  Day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  Votes;  which  Day  shall  be  the 
same  throughout  the  United  States. 

No  Person  except  a  natural  born  Citizen,  or  a  Citizen  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  time  of  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible 
to  the  Office  of  President;  neither  shall  any  Person  be  eligible  to  that 
Office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  Age  of  thirty  five  Years,  and 
been  fourteen  Years  a  Resident  within  the  United  States, 

In  Case  of  the  Removal  of  the  President  from  Office,  or  of  his  Death, 
Resignation,  or  Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers  and  Duties  of  the  said 
Office,  the  Same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice  President,  and  the  Congress 
may  by  Law  provide  for  the  Case  of  Removal,  Death,  Resignation  or 
Inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice  President,  declaring  what 
Officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such  Officer  shall  act  accordingly, 
until  the  Disability  be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  his  Services,  a  Com 
pensation,  which  shall  neither  be  encreased  nor  diminished  during  the 
Period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall  not  receive 
within  that  Period  any  other  Emolument  from  the  United  States,  or 
any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  Execution  of  his  Office,  he  shall  take  the  fol 
lowing  Oath  or  Affirmation  :  — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the 
Office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my 
Ability,  preserve,  protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States." 

SECTION.  2.  The  President  shall  be  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of  the  several 
States,  when  called  into  the  actual  Service  of  the  United  States;  he  may 
require  the  Opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal  Officer  in  each  of  the 
executive  Departments,  upon  any  Subject  relating  to  the  Duties  of  their 
respective  Offices,  and  he  shall  have  Power  to  grant  Reprieves  and 


xii  Constitution  of  the   United  States 

Pardons  for  Offences  against  the  United  States,  except  in  Cases  of 
Impeachment. 

He  shall  have  Power,  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  make  Treaties,  provided  two  thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
concur;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent 
of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and 
Consuls,  Judges  of  the  supreme  Court,  and  all  other  Officers  of  the 
United  States,  whose  Appointments  are  not  herein  otherwise  provided 
for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by  Law :  but  the  Congress  may  by 
Law  vest  the  Appointment  of  such  inferior  Officers,  as  they  think  proper, 
in  the  President  alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law,  or  in  the  Heads  of 
Departments. 

The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill  up  all  Vacancies  that  may 
happen  during  the  Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  Commissions 
which  shall  expire  at  the  End  of  their  next  Session. 

SECTION.  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  Infor 
mation  of  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  Consideration 
such  Measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient;  he  may,  on 
extraordinary  Occasions,  convene  both  Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and 
in  Case  of  Disagreement  between  them,  with  Respect  to  the  Time  of 
Adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to  such  Time  as  he  shall  think 
proper;  he  shall  receive  Ambassadors  and  other  public  Ministers;  he 
shall  take  Care  that  the  Laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  Commis 
sion  all  the  Officers  of  the  United  States. 

SECTION.  4.  The  President,  Vice  President  and  all  civil  Officers  of 
the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  Office  on  Impeachment  for, 
and  Conviction  of,  Treason,  Bribery,  or  other  high  Crimes  and  Mis 
demeanors. 

ARTICLE  III. 

SECTION.  I.  The  judicial  Power  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
vested  in  one  supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  Courts  as  the  Con 
gress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The  Judges,  both 
of  the  supreme  and  inferior  Courts,  shall  hold  their  Offices  during  good 
Behaviour,  and  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  their  Services,  a  Com 
pensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in 
Office. 

SECTION.  2.  The  judicial  Power  shall  extend  to  all  Cases,  in  Law 
and  Equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  Laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their  Author 
ity; —  to  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and 
Consuls; — to  all  Cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  Jurisdiction; — to 
Controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  Party;  — to  Contro 
versies  between  two  or  more  States; — between  a  State  and  Citizens 


Constitution  of  the  United  States  xiii 

of  another  State; — between  Citizens  of  different  States,  —  between 
Citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  Lands  under  Grants  of  different 
States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  Citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States, 
Citizens  or  Subjects. 

In  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and  Con 
suls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  Party,  the  supreme  Court  shall 
have  original  Jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  Cases  before  mentioned, 
the  supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  Jurisdiction,  both  as  to  Law 
and  Fact,  with  such  Exceptions,  and  under  such  regulations  as  the 
Congress  shall  make. 

The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment,  shall  be 
by  Jury;  and  such  Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said  Crimes 
shall  have  been  committed;  but  when  not  committed  within  any  State, 
the  Trial  shall  be  at  such  Place  or  Places  as  the  Congress  may  by  Law 
have  directed. 

SECTION.  3.  Treason  against  the  United  States,  shall  consist  only 
in  levying  War  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  Enemies,  giving 
them  Aid  and  Comfort.  No  Person  shall  be  convicted  of  Treason  unless 
on  the  Testimony  of  two  Witnesses  to  the  same  overt  Act,  or  on  Con 
fession  in  open  Court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declare  the  Punishment  of  Trea 
son,  but  no  Attainder  of  Treason  shall  work  Corruption  of  Blood,  or 
Forfeiture  except  during  the  Life  of  the  Person  attainted. 

ARTICLE.   IV. 

SECTION.  I.  Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to 
the  public  Acts,  Records,  and  judicial  Proceedings  of  every  other  State. 
And  the  Congress  may  by  general  Laws  prescribe  the  Manner  in  which 
such  Acts,  Records  and  Proceedings  shall  be  proved,  and  the  Effect 
thereof. 

SECTION.  2.  The  Citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all 
Privileges  and  Immunities  of  Citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  Person  charged  in  any  State  with  Treason,  Felony,  or  other 
Crime,  who  shall  flee  from  Justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State,  shall 
on  Demand  of  the  executive  Authority  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled, 
be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having  Jurisdiction  of  the 
Crime. 

No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in  one  State,  under  the  Laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  Consequence  of  any  Law  or 
Regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  Service  or  Labour,  but 
shall  be  delivered  up  on  Claim  of  the  Party  to  whom  such  Service  or 
Labour  may  be  due. 

SECTION.  3.     New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this 


xiv  Constitution  of  the   United  States 

Union;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  Juris 
diction  of  any  other  State ;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  Junction 
of  two  or  more  States,  or  Parts  of  States,  without  the  Consent  of  the 
Legislatures  of  the  States  concerned  as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 
Rules  and  Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  or  other  Property 
belonging  to  the  United  States;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution  shall 
be  so  construed  as  to  Prejudice  any  Claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of 
any  particular  State. 

SECTION.  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in 
this  Union  a  Republican  Form  of  Government,  and  shall  protect  each 
of  them  against  Invasion;  and  on  Application  of  the  Legislature,  or  of 
the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature  cannot  be  convened)  against 
domestic  Violence. 

ARTICLE.   V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem  it 
necessary,  shall  propose  Amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the 
Application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two  thirds  of  the  several  States,  shall 
call  a  Convention  for  proposing  Amendments,  which,  in  either  Case, 
shall  be  valid  to  all  Intents  and  Purposes,  as  Part  of  this  Constitution, 
when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three  fourths  of  the  several  States, 
or  by  Conventions  in  three  fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other 
Mode  of  Ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress;  Provided  that 
no  Amendment  which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  Year  One  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  Manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth 
Clauses  in  the  Ninth  Section  of  the  first  Article;  and  that  no  State, 
without  its  Consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage  in  the 
Senate. 

ARTICLE.   VI. 

All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements  entered  into,  before  the 
Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United 
States  under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the  Confederation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall  be 
made  in  Pursuance  thereof ;  and  all  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall 
be  made,  under  the  Authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme 
Law  of  the  Land;  and  the  Judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby, 
any  Thing  in  the  Constitution  or  Laws  of  any  State  to  the  Contrary 
notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the  Mem 
bers  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial 
Officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be 


Constitution  of  the  United  States  xv 

bound  by  Oath  or  Affirmation,  to  support  this  Constitution  ;  but  no 
religious  Test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  Qualification  to  any  Office  or 
public  Trust  under  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE.   VII. 

The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  shall  be  sufficient 
for  the  Establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States  so  ratify 
ing  the  Same. 

THE  AMENDMENTS. 


Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion, 
wr  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof ;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of 
speech,  or  of  the  press  ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to 
assemble,  and  to  petition  the  Government  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 


ii. 

A  well  regulated  Militia,  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free 
State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  Arms,  shall  not  be 
infringed. 

ill. 

No  Soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house,  with 
out  the  consent  of  the  Owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to 
be  prescribed  by  law. 

IV. 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers, 
and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be 
violated,  and  no  Warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon  probable  cause,  sup 
ported  by  Oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the  place  to 
be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things  to  be  seized. 


v. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  infa 
mous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  Grand  Jury, 
except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  Militia, 
when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  War  or  public  danger;  nor  shall  any 
person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of 


xvi  Constitution  of  the  United  States 

life  or  limb  ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  Criminal  Case  to  be  witness 
against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without 
due  process  of  law  ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use, 
without  just  compensation. 

VI. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a 
speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  district 
wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have 
been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature 
and  cause  of  the  accusation  ;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses 
against  him  ;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  Witnesses  in 
his  favor,  and  to  have  the  Assistance  of  Counsel  for  his  defence. 

VII. 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall  exceed 
twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved,  and  no  fact 
tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any  Court  of  the 
United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law. 


Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 


IX. 


The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not  be 
construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 


The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respec 
tively,  or  to  the  people. 

XI. 

The  Judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed  to 
extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  against 
one  of  the  United  States  by  Citizens  of  another  State,  or  by  Citizens  or 
Subjects  of  any  Foreign  State. 

XII. 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  states,  and  vote  by  ballot 
for  President  and  Vice  President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be 
an  inhabitant  of  the  same  state  with  themselves  ;  they  shall  name  in 
their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in  distinct  ballots 


Constitution  of  the   United  States  xvii 

the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-Pr2sident,  and  they  shall  make  distinct 
lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of  all  persons  voted  for 
as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each,  which  lists 
they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the 
Senate; — The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates 
and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted  ;  — The  person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number 
be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed  ;  and  if  no 
person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  persons  having  the  highest 
numbers  not  exceeding  three  on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President, 
the  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the 
President.  But  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by 
states,  the  representation  from  each  state  having  one  vote  ;  a  quorum 
for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds 
of  the  states,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  states  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
choice.  And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  Presi 
dent  whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the 
fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall  act 
as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  dis 
ability  of  the  President.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of 
votes  as  Vice-President,  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be 
a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed,  and  if  no  person 
have  a  majority,  then  from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the 
Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice-President ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose 
shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a 
majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But  no 
person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be 
eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 


XIII. 

SECTION  I.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a 
punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con 
victed,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to 
their  jurisdiction. 

SECTION  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation. 


SECTION  I.  Ail  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make  or  enforce 


xviii  Constitution  of  the   United  States 

• 

any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States  :  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law ;  nor  deny  to  any 
person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

SECTION  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several 
States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the  whole  num 
ber  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed.  But  when 
the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of  electors  for  President 
and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  Representatives  in  Congress, 
the  Executive  and  Judicial  officers  of  a  State,  or  the  members  of  the 
Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such 
State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
or  in  any  way  abridged,  except  for  participation  in  rebellion,  or  other 
crime,  the  basis  of  representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  pro 
portion  which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole 
number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

SECTION  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any  office, 
civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any  State,  who, 
having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  or  as  an 
officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any  State  legislature,  or 
as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to  support  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion 
against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But 
Congress  may  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each  House,  remove  such 
disability. 

SECTION  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pensions 
and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall 
not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States  nor  any  State  shall 
assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emanci 
pation  of  any  slave;  but  all  such  debts,  obligations  and  claims  shall  be 
held  illegal  and  void. 

SECTION  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appro 
priate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 


XV. 

SECTION  i.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall 
not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on 
account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

SECTION  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article 
by  appropriate  legislation. 


INDEX 


Abolitionists,  in  colonial  times,  121;  in 
Washington's  administration,  270;  in 
1831,  399;  in  1850,  432;  in  1860,  470. 
See  Antislavery  and  Slavery. 

Acadia,  50,  113. 

Adams,  John,  portrait,  285;  autograph, 
259;  notes  of  Otis's  speech,  134;  defends 
British  soldiers,  156;  and  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  183;  peace  com 
missioner,  1782,  207  ;  Vice-President, 
258,  259,  276  ;  President,  281,  282  ; 
partisan  conduct,  292. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  portrait,  365;  auto 
graph,  359  ;  commissioner  at  Ghent, 
342  ;  defends  Jackson's  Florida  raid, 
353  ;  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  357, 
358  ;  elected  President,  364-368  ;  ad 
ministration  of,  368-374;  in  House  of 
Representatives,  400  ;  on  the  Presi 
dent's  war  powers,  477. 

Adams,  Samuel,  portrait,  151;  leads  op 
position  movement  in  Massachusetts, 
151  ;  and  the  Boston  Massacre,  155  ; 
local  Committees  of  Correspondence, 
157  ;  in  Continental  Congress,  163. 

Adet,  French  minister,  276. 

Agricultural  industries  in  1800,  301  ;  in 
1860,  462;  in  1900,  578. 

Alabama,  Confederate  cruiser,  527. 

Alabama  claims,  546,  547. 

Alaska,  acquisition  of,  544  ;  boundary  of, 
582. 

Albany  Congress  and  Plan  (1754),  119, 120. 

Albany  Conference  (1860),  478. 

Albany  Junto,  371. 

Alexandria  Convention,  233. 

Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  284-286. 

Amadas,  Philip,  explores  Virginia,  43. 

America,  physiography  of,  1-16;  discov 
ery  and  exploration  of,  19-46;  naming 
of,  29. 

American  Association,  163. 

American  people,  condition  of,  in  1800, 
295-308  ;  in  1830,  377-390  ;  in  1860, 
455-467  ;  in  *9°°,  57I-58°  •  physical 
characteristics  of,  15. 

Americus  Vespucius,  see  Vespucius. 


Amnesty  Act  (1872),  545. 

Andre,  John,  193-195. 

Andrew,  John  A.,  478. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  97,  104-107. 

Annapolis  Convention,  234. 

Anti-Nebraska  men,  445. 

Antietam,  battle  of,  510. 

Antislavery  agitation  (1790),  269  ;  (1831- 
38),  399-402. 

Appomattox.  surrender  at,  529. 

Aristotle  (ar'is-tot-1),  on  shape  of  earth,  20. 

Arkansas,  formation  of  territory  of,  360, 
361. 

Armada,  Spanish,  defeat  of,  44  ;  impor 
tance  of,  in  American  history,  46. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  invades  Canada,  175  ; 
at  Saratoga,  186  ;  reprimanded  by 
Washington,  193  ;  treason  of,  194. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  Vice-President  and 
President,  551. 

Articles  of  Confederation,  217-219. 

Atlanta  campaign,  522-523. 

Ayllon,  de  (da-il-yon'),  Lucas  Vasquez, 
attempts  to  found  colony,  34. 

Balboa  (bal-bo'a),  see  Nunez. 

Baltimore,  Baron, 'see  Calvert. 

Beaumarchais,  Caron  de,  190. 

Behaim  (ba'hem),  Martin,  his  globe,  23. 

Bell,  John,  nominated  President,  1860, 
469. 

Berkeley,  Lord,  95,  96. 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  59,  103. 

Bladensburg,  battle  of,  337.  . 

Blair,  F.  P.,  486,  487. 

Body  of  Liberties,  the,  79. 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  289  ;  sells  Louisi 
ana,  317  ;  decrees  as  to  commerce,  322, 

323.  327- 

"  Border  states"  in  Civil  War,  486,  487, 
496. 

Boston,  founded,  71  ;  king's  commis 
sioners  at,  94  ',  in  1689,  107  ;  massacre 
at  (1770),  155;  destruction  of  tea  at, 
161  ;  siege  of,  in  1775  76, 166, 172-175  ; 
Garrison  mob  at,  400. 


XX 


Index 


Bradford,  William,  governor  of  Plymouth, 

68. 

Bragg,  Confederate  general,  511,513,524. 
Breckinridge,   John    C .,   Vice-President, 

447,   448  ;    nominated  President,   1860, 

467. 
Brown,  General  Jacob,  in  War  of  1812, 

337- 
Brown,  John,  portrait,  451  ;    autograph, 

444 ;    in   Kansas,   444 ;    execution   of, 

450-452. 
Bryan,   William    J.,    candidate    for    the 

presidency,  557. 
Buchanan,  James,   portrait,  472  ;    in   the 

Senate,   401  ;     elected    President,   447, 

448;   in  the  secession  crisis,  471,  472. 
Buell,  General,  511. 
Bull  Run,  first  battle  of,  498,  499;  second 

battle  of,  510. 

Bunker  Hill,  battle  of,  172,  173. 
Burgoyne,  British  general,  185-188. 
Burke,  Edmund,  164. 
Burns,  attempted  rescue  of.  437. 
Burnside,  General  A.  E.,  at  Fredericks- 
burg,  510,  511;  at  Knoxville,  520-522. 
Burr,   Aaron,  Vice-President,   291,  320  ; 

kills   Hamilton,   320 ;    conspiracy   and 

trial,  320,  321. 

Cabeza  de  Vaca  (ka-ba'sa  da  v'a'kaM, 
Alvar  Nunez,  his  wanderings,  35. 

Cabot,  George,  on  Republicans,  308. 
.Cabot  (kab'ot),   John,    discovers    North 
America,  27. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  his  map,  27. 

Cabral  (ka-braT),  Pedro  Alvarez,  his 
voyage  to  South  America,  32. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  portrait,  396  ;  auto 
graph,  434;  member  of  Congress,  331; 
advocates  nationalism,  348  ;  as  Secre 
tary  of  War  proposes  to  court-martial 
Jackson,  353;  his  Exposition,  372;  his 
theory  of  states'  rights,  392;  and  nulli 
fication,  395-398  ;  on  antislavery  peti 
tions,  400.  401  ;  on  "  incendiary  publi 
cations,"  401.  402;  Secretary  of  State, 
413;  negotiates  treaty  for  annexation  of 
Texas,  419,  420;  on  the  compromise  of 
1850.  434. 

California,  seized  by  the  United  States, 
422;  discovery  of  gold  in,  427;  applies 
for  admission  to  Union,  428;  admitted, 
436. 

Callender,  trial  of,  286. 

Calvert,  George,  Baron  Baltimore,  60. 

Calvert,  Cecilius,  second  Baron  Balti 
more,  founds  Maryland,  60-62. 


Cambridge  Agreement,  69. 

Camden,  Lord,  148,  149. 

Cameron,  Simon,  470;  Secretary  of  War 
483. 

Canning,  George,  British  foreign  minis, 
ter,  and  Monroe  Doctrine,  356. 

Carolinas,  the  charters  of,  101  ;  settle 
ment  of,  102  ;  rebellion  in  (1719),  no  ; 
claims  of,  to  western  lands,  221.  See 
also  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  95  97. 

Cartier  (kar'tya'),  Jacques,  discovers  thfe 
St.  Lawrence,  37. 

Cass,  Lewis,  nominated  President,  429. 

Champlain,  Samuel  de,  50,  51,  82. 

Chancellorsville,  battle  of,  517. 

Charleston,  S.C.,  102;  in  1800,  300;  in 
Nullification  episode,  397  ;  Democratic 
convention  at  (1860),  467. 

Charter  of  Privileges  (.Penna.),  100,  101. 

Charters,  Virginia,  51,  54;  Maryland,  61; 
New  England,  63;  Massachusetts,  69, 
71  74  (1691),  109;  Providence  Planta 
tions,  77  ;  Rhode  Island,  94  ;  Con 
necticut,  94  ;  Pennsylvania,  98  ;  Caro 
lina,  101  ;  Georgia,  no. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  on  Kansas-Nebraska 
Act,  440  ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  483. 

Chase,  Samuel,  impeachment  of,  314. 

Chatham,  Lord  (William  Pitt),  148,  149, 
165,  191. 

Chattanooga,  battle  of,  520. 

Chesapeake  outrage,  the,  325. 

Chicago,  population  of,  574. 

Chickamauga,  battle  of,  520. 

Cities,  population  of,  in  1800,  299  ;  in 
1830,  382;  in  1860,  460;  in  1900,  573. 

Civil  Rights  Bill,  540. 

Civil  Service  Reform,  553-555. 

Civil  War,  campaigns  of  the,  484,  495- 

501,  503-5T3,  5J6-5I9.  52°^527.  529  > 
opposition  to,  in  the  North,  519,  520. 

Clark.  General  G.  R.,  conquers  western 
territory,  220. 

Clay,  Henry,  portrait,  367  ;  autograph, 
433>  Speaker  of  House,  331;  negotia 
tion  of  Treaty  of  Ghent,  342;  and  Mis 
souri  Compromise,  361;  candidate  for 
presidency,  366  ;  Secretary  of  State, 
368;  and  the  Bank,  404,  405;  nominated 
for  the  presidency  (1844^,  420;  and 
compromise  of  1850,  433,  434. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  elected  President,  552; 
first  administration,  552 ;  second  ad 
ministration,  553. 

Clinton,  British  general.  173,  192. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  385. 


Index 


xxi 


Cold  Harbor,  battle  of,  525. 

Coligny,  de  (deh  ko'len'ye'),  Gaspard, 
and  American  colonization,  38. 

Columbus  (ko-liim'bus),  Christopher,  his 
theory  as  to  shape  of  earth,  21;  first 
voyage,  24;  second  voyage,  25;  third 
voyage,  25;  fourth  voyage,  26;  death, 
27. 

Committees  of  Correspondence,  157,  158, 
159,  162. 

Compromises,  of  the  Constitution,  237; 
of  1820,  361,  362;  of  1833,  398;  of  1850, 
433;  suggested  in  1860,  471-472. 

Confederate  States,  Constitution  of  the, 

474- 

Confederation  of  New  England,  79,  80. 

Confederation  of  the  United  States,  216- 
219;  articles  ratified,  222-223;  attempts 
to  amend,  232. 

Congress,  the  Albany,  119;  the  Stamp 
Act,  146;  First  Continental,  162;  Sec 
ond  Continental,  175;  of  the  confedera 
tion,  218;  under  the  Constitution,  240. 

Connecticut,  founding  of,  77,  78;  charter 
of,  94;  claims  to  western  lands,  220, 
222;  cessions  of,  223;  in  War  of  1812, 
344 ;  antislavery  agitation  in,  400, 
402. 

Constitution  of  the  United  States,  for 
mation  and  discussion  of,  236-246; 
ratification  of,  247,  250,  268;  first  ten 
amendments,  250-252. 

Constitution,  the,  and  Gnerriere,  339, 
340. 

Constitutional  Convention  see  Federal 
Convention. 

Constitutional  Union  Party,  469. 

Continental  Congress,  .see  Congress 

Continental  line,  200,  201. 

Conway  Cabal,  188. 

Cornwallis,  British  general,  198,  199. 

Coronado  (ko-ro-na'do),  Francisco  Vas- 
quez,  his  expedition,  36. 

Cortereal,  de  (kor-ta-ra-al'),  Caspar,  on 
coast  of  Labrador,  32. 

Cortez  (kor'tgz),  Hernando,  conquers 
Mexico,  33. 

Cotton  gin,  influence  of  the,  2,  304. 

Cotton  manufacture,  304,  305. 

Crawford,  Wm.  H.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  365;  nominated  for  presi 
dency,  366. 

Crittenden  Compromise,  472,  473. 

Cuba,  relations  with,  1807-60,  557,  558; 
misgovernment  of,  1868-98,  558-561; 
war  with  Spain  to  free,  561-569;  free 
dom  of,  571. 


Dale,  Sir  Thomas,  governor  of  Virginia, 
55- 

Dale's  law,  55,  56. 

Dartmouth  College  case,  351. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  474. 

Deane,  Silas,  190. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  181-184. 

Declarations  of  Rights,  of  Massachusetts, 
of  1661,  93;  of  1765,  146;  of  1774, 
163. 

Declaratory  Act,  149. 

Delaware,  Swedes  in,  84;  conquered  by 
the  Dutch,  85;  becomes  English  terri 
tory,  95 ;  granted  to  Penn,  98 ;  separates 
from  Pennsylvania,  98;  negro  slavery 
in,  121. 

De  Monts,  grant  to,  50. 

Dewey,  Admiral,  561. 

Dickinson,  John,  150,  217. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill,  439,  440;  "  Freeport  Doctrine," 
450;  nominated  for  presidency,  467; 
supports  Lincoln,  486. 

Draft  riots  (1863),  520. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  with  Hawkins,  41; 
his  voyage  around  the  world,  42;  suc 
cors  Ralegh  colonists,  44. 

Dred  Scott  case,  448,  449. 

Dutch  settlements,  82-84;  conquered  by 
English,  95. 

Early,  Jubal,  Confederate  general,  527. 
Education   in   the   colonies,   124-126;    in 

1800,  307,  308;    in  1830,  389. 
Edwards,  Jonathan,  124. 
Elections,  presidential,  of  1789,  257;    of 

1796,  281;    of  1800,  290;   of  1824,  364; 

of  1828,  373,  374;  of  1840,  410,  411;  of 

1844,  420''    °f  1848,  429-431;    of  1852, 

438,  439;  of  1856,  448;  of  1860, 467-470; 

of  1864,  528;  of  1868,  544;  of  1876,  550; 

of  1880,  551;  of  1884,  552;  of  1888,  552; 

of  1892,  553;  of  1896,  553;  of  1900,  580. 
Ellsworth.  Oliver,  292. 
Emancipation  of  slaves  (1785-1800),  305, 

306;   (1863-65),  515,  516. 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  515,  516. 
Embargo,  of  1794,  278;  Jefferson's,  325- 

328. 

England,  see  Great  Britain. 
Era  of  Good  Feeling,  364,  365. 
Eratosthenes  (er  a-tos'the-neez)  on  shape 

of  earth,  20,  21. 

Ericson,  Leif  (life  er'Ik-son),  19,  20. 
Ericsson,  John,  inventor,  506,  507. 
Erie  Canal,  385,  386. 
Erskine,  British  Minister,  329. 


XX11 


Index 


Farragut,  Admiral  D.  G.,  portrait,  504; 
at  New  Orleans,  504. 

Federal  capital,  site  of,  268,  269. 

Federal  Convention,  232-236,  247. 

Federal  ratio,  238. 

Federalist  party,  supremacy  of  the,  257- 
290;  fall  of  the,  291,  292,  308,  310;  ex 
tinction  of  the,  347. 

Fifteenth  Amendment,  544,  545. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  Vice-President,  430; 
succeeds  Taylor  as  President,  435; 
nominated  for  presidency,  447. 

Fisheries,  113,  210,  211,  343,  352. 

Fletcher  vs.  Peck,  case  of,  351. 

Florida,  discovery  of,  33;  French  and 
Spanish  in,  38-40;  ceded  to  Great 
Britain,  116;  boundaries  of,  117,  118; 
ceded  back  to  Spain,  209;  invaded  by 
Jackson.  353;  purchased  by  United 
States,  354,  355 ;  admitted  to  Union,  459. 

Foote,  Commodore,  501. 

Fourteenth  Amendment,  540,  541. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  164,  205,  207. 

Fox,  George,  founder  of  Society  of 
Friends,  90-92. 

Fox,  Gustavus  Vasa,  483. 

France,  American  colonies  of,  50-51 ;  colo 
nists  of,  conquered  by  British,  113-116; 
treaty  of  alliance  with,  190, 191 ;  during 
negotiations  for  peace,  207;  influence 
of,  in  America,  274-276;  controversy 
with  (1798-99),  280,  283;  treaty  of 
1800,  288,  289;  spoliation  claims,  289, 
290;  and  neutral  commerce,  322,  323; 
settlement  of  claims  against,  403;  inter 
feres  in  Mexico,  543,  544. 

Franchise,  the.  142,  228. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  portrait,  206;  frames 
Albany  Plan,  119;  colonial  agent,  148; 
and  Declaration  of  Independence,  181; 
at  Paris,  190;  peace  commissioner,  207; 
drafts  plan  for  confederation,  216;  dele 
gate  to  Federal  Convention,  234,  235; 
president  of  Abolition  Society,  270. 

Fredericksburg,  battle  of,  510,  511. 

Freedmen's  Bureau,  539,  540. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  nominated  for  presi 
dency  (1856),  447;  in  Missouri,  513; 
nominated  for  presidency  (1864),  528. 

Freneau,  Philip,  274,  307. 

Friends,  Society  of,  see  Quakers. 

Fugitive  slaves,  270,  436-438. 

Fulton,  Robert,  portrait,  302;  invents 
steamboat.  301. 

Gadsden  Purchase,  457. 
Gag  resolutions,  400,  401. 


Gage,  British  general,  165,  166,  172. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  portrait,  311 ;  autograph, 
342;  opposes  repressive  legislation,  286; 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  311;  at  Ghent, 
342- 

Gama,  da  (da  ga'ma),  Vasco,  discovers 
sea  route  to  India,  32. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  portrait,  550;  Presi 
dent,  551. 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  Abolition  leader,  399; 
portrait,  431. 

Gaspee,  burning  of  the,  158. 

Gates,  General  Horatio,  186,  189,  198. 

Genet,  French  agent,  276. 

Georgia  founded,  no;  enlarged,  117,  118; 
claims  of,  to  western  lands,  221,  222; 
cessions  of,  224;  controversy  as  to 
Indians,  370;  secession  of,  471. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  236,  283. 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  518,  519. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  his  voyages  and 
death,  42,  43. 

Gomez  (go 'mess),  Estevan,  sails  along 
Atlantic  coast,  34. 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  73. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  76. 

Gosnold,  Bartholomew,  51. 

Grant,  General  U.  S.,  portrait  and  auto 
graph,  521 ;  secures  control  of  the  Ohio, 
501;  captures  Forts  Henry  and  Donel- 
son,  501;  at  Shiloh,  505,  506;  captures 
Vicksburg,  516,  517;  victory  at  Chatta 
nooga,  522;  lieutenant  general.  522; 
Wilderness  campaign,  525;  besieges 
Petersburg,  526;  Appomattox  Court 
House,  529;  President,  544;  reflected,. 
548;  and  the  civil  service,  553 

Great  Britain,  acknowledges  independ 
ence  of  United  States,  208;  relations 
with  (1783-89^,228;  Jay's  treaty  with,. 
276-279;  and  neutral  trade,  321-329; 
proposed  treaty  with  (1806^,  323;  treaty 
with  (1809),  329;  War  of  1812  with, 
331-343;  negotiations  with  (1815-18),. 
352;  relations  with  (1825-29^,  369,  370; 
(1829-37),  403;  Ashburton  Treaty  with, 
412;  Oregon  Treaty,  423-424;  during 
Civil  War,  502,  527,  528;  Alabama 
arbitration  with,  546,  547. 

Greeley,  Horace,  465,  477,  514,  515;  nomi 
nated  for  presidency,  548. 

Grenville,  George,  British  minister,  138- 
140. 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  treaty  of,  422. 

Hale,  John  P.,  431 
Halleck,  General,  505,  506. 


Index 


xxin 


Hamilton,  Alexander,  portrait,  267;  auto 
graph,  272;  intrigues  against  Adams, 
259,  282.  290;  political  views,  261 ;  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  266,  267;  finan 
cial  measures,  267-269;  letter  to  Day  ton, 
288;  killed  by  Burr,  320. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  portrait,  556;  elected 
President,  552. 

Harrison,  Wm.  H.,  defeats  Indians  at 
Tippecanoe,  331;  elected  President, 
410;  death,  411. 

Hartford  Convention,  343-347. 

Harvey,  John,  governor  of  Virginia,  58. 

Hawaii,  annexation  of,  570. 

Hawkins,  John,  succors  Huguenot  col 
ony,  40;  his  slave-trading  voyages,  41. 

Hayes,  R.  B.,  President,  548. 

Hayne,  R.  Y.,  debate  with  Webster,  391- 
394- 

Helper,  H.  R. ,  his  Impending  Crisis,  452. 

Henry,  Patrick,  portrait,  136;  autograph, 
145;  in  the  Parson's  Cause,  136-138; 
his  resolutions  on  the  Stamp  Act,  144; 
proposes  Committees  of  Correspond 
ence,  159;  on  representation,  216;  op 
poses  ratification  of  the  Constitution, 
249,  251 ;  nominated  commissioner  to 
France,  288. 

Hessians,  the,  180. 

Hood,  Confederate  general,  523,  525. 

Hooker,  General  Joseph,  518,  522. 

Hopkins,  Stephen,  158,  163. 

Houston,  Samuel,  419. 

Howe,  British  general,  173,  185. 

Hudson,  Henry,  82. 

Huguenots  (hu'ge-not),  colony  of  the,  38, 
39;  destroyed  by  Menendez,  39,  40. 

Hutchinson,  Anne,  75-77. 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  155-157,  161. 

Hylacomylus,  see  Waldseemuller. 

Immigration,  456,  457,  572,  573. 
Implied  powers,  doctrine  of,  242. 
Impressment  controversy,  323-325,  331. 
Independence,  Declaration  of,  181-184. 
Independent   Democrats,    appeal   of  the, 

441,  442. 

Independent  Treasury  Act,  409,  411. 
Industrial  development,  301   305,  462-464, 

577.  578 
Internal  revenue  taxes,  271,  272,  491,  555, 

556. 

Interstate  Commerce  Act,  577. 
Inventions,  303,  387,  426,  464. 
Iron  industry,  growth  of,  578. 
Iroquois,  League  of  the,  82. 


Jackson,  Andrew,  portrait,  379;  at  New 
Orleans,  338;  in  Seminole  War,  353; 
candidate  for  presidency  (1824),  366; 
elected  President,  373;  character  of, 
374)  377.  378;  administration  of,  378- 
409;  and  the  Civil  Service,  391;  and 
Nullification,  395;  his  war  on  the 
Bank,  403-406;  his  specie  circular,  408. 

Jackson,  British  minister,  329. 

Jackson,  Confederate  general,  509,  518. 

Jackson,  William,  upholds  slavery,  270. 

Jamestown  settled,  53. 

Jay,  John,  in  Continental  Congress,  163; 
negotiator  of  treaty  of  peace  of  1783, 
207;  Chief  Justice,  278;  negotiates 
Jay's  Trpaty,  278. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  portrait,  309;  fac 
simile  of  manuscript,  182;  on  represen 
tation,  143;  Colonial  Committees  of 
Correspondence,  159;  his  Summary 
View,  162,  181;  in  Continental  Con 
gress,  176;  drafts  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  181;  minister  to  France, 
274;  political  theories  of,  260,  261;  on 
constitutionality  of  a  national  bank, 
272;  founds  Republican  party,  273, 
274;  author  of  Kentucky  Resolutions, 
286,  287;  elected  Vice-President,  282: 
elected  President,  291 ;  administrations 
of,  310-328;  inaugural  address,  310; 
and  the  Civil  Service,  311-313;  the 
Louisiana  Purchase,  315;  embargo 
policy  of,  325-328;  on  Missouri  Com 
promise,  361;  and  Cuba,  558. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  elected  Vice-President, 
528;  becomes  President,  530;  admin 
istration  of,  538-543;  impeachment  of, 
543- 

Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  Confederate 
general,  505,  506. 

Johnston,  Joseph  E  ,  Confederate  gen 
eral,  498,  507,  509,  517,  522-524. 

Jones,  Paul,  200. 

Judiciary,  Federal,  245,  292,  313,  314. 

Kansas,  struggle  for,  443-445. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  439-441. 
Kentucky  Resolutions,  286  287. 
Kieft,  governor  of  New  Netherland,  83, 

84. 
Know-Nothing  party,  445-448. 

Laud,  William,  70. 

Laudonniere,  de  (dgh  lo'do'ne-er')  Rene", 

governor  of  Huguenot  colony,  39. 
Laurens,  Henry,  207. 
Lawrence,  Amos  A.,  444. 


XXIV 


Index 


Lecompton  convention  and  constitution, 
444,  445- 

Lee,  Arthur,  190. 

Lee,  Charles,  treason  of,  192,  193. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,  portrait,  250;  reso 
lutions  for  independence,  181;  opposes 
ratification  of  the  Constitution,  252. 

Lee,  R.  E.,  Confederate  general,  509, 
518,  519,  525,  526,  529. 

Leon,  de  (dala-on'),  Ponce,  discovers 
Florida,  33. 

Liberty,  seizure  of  the.  152. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  portrait,  frontispiece; 
autograph,  515;  early  political  views, 
442,  443;  on  Kansas-Nebraska  Act, 
443;  debate  with  Douglas,  449,  450; 
nominated  for  the  presidency,  470; 
elected  President,  470;  inaugural  ad 
dress,  482;  cabinet,  483;  proclamation 
for  volunteers,  484,  485;  policy  as  to 
emancipation,  513-515;  letter  to  Gree- 
ley,  515;  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
515,  516;  re-elected  President,  528; 
murdered,  530;  on  reconstruction,  537, 
538. 

Livingston,  Robert  R.,  181;  negotiates 
Louisiana  Purchase,  315. 

Longstreet,  Confederate  general,  520, 
522. 

Louisiana,  founding  of,  114;  ceded  to 
Spain,  116;  ceded  back  to  France,  315; 
purchased  by  United  States,  315-318; 
admitted  to  Union,  382. 

Lovejoy,  Elijah  P.,  murdered,  402. 

Lowell,  F.  C.,  305. 

Loyalists,  204,  205,  210. 

Lyon,  Nathaniel,  486,  487. 

Macon's  Bill,  No.  2,  329. 

Madison,  James,  portrait,  328;  autograph, 
235;  and  the  Federal  Convention,  232; 
Notes  of  Debates  in  convention,  235, 
236;  in  House  of  Representatives,  264; 
Virginia  Resolutions,  287;  Secretary  of 
State,  311;  President,  328;  adminis 
tration  of,  328-349;  on  internal  im 
provements,  351. 

Magalhaens,  da  (ma-gal-ya'ens)  Fer 
nando,  discovers  Magellan  Strait,  32. 

Maine,  82;  settlement  of,  52,  53;  ad 
mitted  to  Union,  361. 

Malvern  Hill,  battle  of,  509. 

Mansfield,  Lord,  143. 

Manufacturing,  growth  of,  348,  463,  464. 

Maps,  see  Table  of  Contents. 

Marcos  (mar-k5s'),  Friar,  journey  to  the 
"  seven  cities,"  35. 


Marshall,  James  W  ,  427. 

Marshall,  John,  portrait,  312;  autograph, 
350;  commissioner  to  France,  283; 
Secretary  of  State,  289;  Chief  Justice, 
292;  Marbury  vs.  Madison,  313;  Burr's 
trial,  321;  McCulloch  -vs.  Maryland, 
350;  Dartmouth  College  case,  351. 

Maryland,  settlement  of,  60;  charter,  60- 
62;  boundaries.  61;  Toleration  Act,  62; 
Coode's  Rebellion,  107 ;  slavery  in,  121 ; 
refuses  to  ratify  confederation,  222; 
ratifies,  223;  conventions  with  Virginia. 
234;  in  Civil  War,  496;  abolition  of 
slavery  in,  516. 

Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  98,  99,  271. 

Mason,  Captain  John,  77. 

Massachusetts,  charters  of,  69, 109;  settle 
ment  and  early  history  of,  71-82,  90-94, 
104,  105;  in  1760-75,  134,  152,  155-158, 
161,  164,  165;  claims  of,  to  western 
lands,  219;  cession,  223;  in  War  of 
1812,  344. 

McClellan,  General  George  B  ,  499; 
Peninsular  campaign,  507,  508;  An- 
tietam.  510;  nominated  for  presidency, 
528. 

McCormick,  Cyrus  H.,  portrait  and  auto 
graph,  426;  his  reaper,  426,  427. 

McCulloch  i<s.  Maryland,  350. 

McDonough,  Commodore,  337. 

McDowell,  General  Irvin,  498. 

McKinlcy,  William,  portrait  of,  581 ;  Pres 
ident,  553,  580;  death  of,  581. 

Meade,  General  George  G.,  at  Gettys 
burg,  518;  in  later  campaign,  525. 

Menendez  de  Aviles  (ma-nen'deth  da 
a-vee'les),  Pedro,  founds  St.  Augus 
tine  and  destroys  Huguenot  colony, 

39,  40. 

Merrimac  ( Virginia},  506. 
Mexican  War,  421-423. 
Miles,  General,  566. 
Missouri,  in  Civil  War,  486,  487;  abolition 

of  slavery  in,  516. 

Missouri  Compromise,  360-363,  400. 
Monitor  and  Merrimac,  506,  507. 
Monmouth,  battle  of,  192,  193. 
Monroe,  James,  portrait,  350;  autograph, 

323;  minister  to  France,  280,  281 ;  signs 

treaty    for    Louisiana    Purchase,    316; 

negotiates   treaty  with    England,    323; 

President,  349;   administrations  of,  349- 

364;  and  Cuba,  558. 
Monroe  Doctrine,  356-359 
Montgomery,  General  Richard,  175. 
Monts,  Sieur  de,  50. 
Morton,  Thomas,  71. 


Index 


xxv 


Narvaez,  de  (da  nar-va'eth),  Panfilo,  his 

expedition,  35. 

National  banking  system,  491. 
Naturalization  Acts,  284,  324. 
Navigation  Ordinances  and  Acts,  82,  90. 
Neutral  trade,  321-323. 
Neutrality  Proclamation  (1793),  275. 
Newburg  Addresses,  202. 
New  England,  Council  for,  63,  69;  United 

Colonies  of,  79-82;  Dominion  of,  106; 

Emigration  Society,  444. 
New  Haven  colony,  78,  79,  92. 
New  Jersey,  colonial  history  of,  96,  97; 

slavery  in,  121,  227,  305. 
New  Mexico,  422. 
New   Netherland,   settlement  of,   82-84; 

conquest  of,  95,  96. 
New  Orleans,  founding  of,  114;  battle  of, 

338;  captured  by  Farragut,  503,  504. 
New  York,  colonial  history  of,  95,  96,  108, 

121 ;  claims  to  western  lands,  219,  220; 

cessions,  223. 
New  York  City,  population  in  1800,  300; 

in    1830,  382;    in    1860,  460;    in    1900, 

573- 
North  Carolina,  land  cessions,  223,  224; 

ratification  of  Constitution,  268. 
North,  Lord,  191,  192,  205. 
Northeastern  boundary  dispute,  412-413. 
Northmen,  voyages  of,  19. 
Nullification  episode,  395,  397. 
Nunez    (noon'yeth),     Vasco,     discovers 

Pacific,  30. 

Olive  Branch  Petition,  176. 
Ordinance  of  1787,  224-227. 
Oregon,  negotiations  as  to,  423-425. 
Ostend  Manifesto,  558. 
Otis,  James,  134-136;  portrait,  135. 

Pacific,  discovery  of,  30. 

Paine,  Thomas,  179,  233. 

Pakenham,  British  general,  338. 

Panama  Canal,  582. 

Panama  Congress,  369,  370. 

Panic  of  1857,  464,  465. 

Parliament,  supremacy  of,  149. 

Parson's  Cause,  136—138. 

Patroonships,  83. 

Pendleton.  Senator,  555. 

Peninsular  campaign,  507,  509. 

Penn,  William,  portrait,  97;  and  New 
Jersey,  97;  grant  of  Pennsylvania,  97, 
98;  Indian  policy,  100;  grants  Charter 
of  Privileges,  101. 

Pennsylvania,  colonial  history,  98-101. 

Perry,  Commodore,  337. 


Philadelphia,  population,  in  1800,  299; 
in  1830,  382;  in  1900,  574. 

Philippines,  acquisition  of,  569,  571. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  portrait,  470;  auto 
graph,  402;  Faneuil  Hall  speech,  402; 
on  Lincoln,  470;  on  secession,  477,  478. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  elected  President,  438. 

Pilgrim  Compact,  65,  67. 

Pilgrims,  in  England  and  the  Netherlands, 
63,  65. 

Pinckney,  Charles  C.,  in  Federal  Con 
vention.  236;  minister  to  France,  281, 
283;  nominated  for  vice-presidency,  290. 

Pinckney ,Thomas,  minister  to  Spain,  280; 
nominated  for  vice-presidency,  282. 

Pinckney,  William,  minister  to  England, 

323- 
Pitt,    William,    Earl    of    Chatham,    see 

Chatham. 

Pitt,  William,  the  younger,  322. 
Plymouth,  colonial  history,  67-69. 
Polk,  James  K.,  elected  President,  420. 
Pope,  General  John,  501,  509,  510. 
Popham  Colony,  52,  53. 
Population,  in   1760,   120;    in   1775*   170; 

in  1800,  296-297;   in  1830,  380;  in  1860, 

456-459;   in  1900,  571. 
Porto  Rico,  acquisition  of,  568,  571. 
President,  functions  of  the,  246,  476,  477; 

change  in  mode  of  election  of,  319. 
President  and  Little  Belt,  330. 
Pring,  Martin,  51. 
Protection,   arguments   for  and    against, 

348,  349,  364. 

Providence,  founding  of,  74,  75. 
Puritans,  in  England,  63 ;  in  Maryland, 62. 

Quakers,  in  New  England,  90-92 ;  in  New 
York,  92;  in  New  Jersey,  96;  in  Penn 
sylvania,  97. 

Railroads.  386,  461,  574-577. 

Rainfall,  7,  8. 

Ralegh  colonists,  43,  44. 

Reconstruction,  536-545. 

Religion  and  toleration,  123,  124,  227,  228, 

39°- 

Representation  in  America  and  in  Eng 
land,  143,  144. 

Revolution,  campaigns  of,  172,  173,  184— 
188,  192,  195-200. 

Rhode  Island,  colonial  history  of,  74-77; 
charter,  94,  95. 

Ribault  (re'b5),  Jean,  leads  Huguenots 
to  America,  38,  39;  conflict  with  Me- 
nendez,  40. 

Rochambeau,  French  general,  198,  199. 


XXVI 


Index 


Rockingham  ministries,  147-149,  205. 
Roosevelt,    Theodore,    in    Spanish    War, 

566;     Vice-President,    580;     President, 

581. 
Rosecrans,  General,  at  Stone  River,  511; 

at  Chickamauga,  520. 
Rule  of  War  of  1756,  277,  322. 
Rush,  minister  to  England,  356. 
Russia,  relations  with,  356,  357,  359. 

Sampson,  Admiral,  562-565. 

Santiago,  capture  of,  566-568. 

Saratoga  Convention,  188. 

Schley,  Admiral,  562-565. 

Schofield,  General,  524. 

Schuyler,  General  Philip,  186. 

Science  and  history,  2. 

Scott,  General  Winfield,  portrait,  422;  in 

War  of  1812,  337 ;  in  Mexican  War,  421 ; 

nominated  for  presidency,  438. 
Secession,  455,  456,  471,  473~477>  539- 
Sedition  Act,  285. 
Seward.  W.  H.,  and  compromise  of  1850, 

435;    the  "irrepressible  conflict,"  450; 

Secretary  of  State,  483. 
Shafter,  General,  566-568. 
Shays's  Rebellion,  231. 
Shelburne,  Lord,  205-207. 
Sheridan,    General   P.    H.,   portrait   and 

autograph,  521;    at  Stone  River,  513; 

in  Shenandoah  valley,  527;    at  Appo- 

mattox,  529. 
Sherman,    John,    Silver   Purchase   Law, 

553- 

Sherman,  Roger,  163,  181,  238. 

Sherman,  General  William  T.,  portrait 
and  autograph,  521 ;  at  Vicksburg,  517 ; 
at  Chattanooga,  522;  in  Atlanta  cam 
paign,  522;  in  Georgia  and  the  Caro- 
linas,  523,  524. 

Shiloh,  battle  of,  505,  506. 

Slavery,  in  colonial  times,  121,  122,  227; 
compromises  as  to,  239;  first  debates 
in  Congress,  269,  270;  Fugitive  Slave 
Laws,  270,  271,  436-438;  in  1800,  305, 
306;  Missouri  Compromise,  359-362; 
in  1830,  383,  384;  petitions  as  to,  in 
Congress,  400,  401;  extension  of  slave 
territory,  417-419;  compromise  of  1850, 
433-436;  in  1860,  459,  460;  "corner 
stone"  of  Confederacy,  475;  Lincoln's 
policy  as  to,  513-516;  abolished,  516. 

Smith,  Captain  John,  54,  67. 

Soto,  de  (da  so'to),  Hernando,  his  expe 
dition,  37. 

Southampton  (Virginia),  slave  insurrec 
tion,  399. 


South  Carolina,  colonial  history,  102,  103; 
claims  to  western  lands,  221;  cessions, 
224;  Nullification  in,  395-397;  leads 
secession,  471. 

Spain,  relations  with,  in  1783-89,  229;  in 
1795,  280,  281;  in  1810-19,  353- 

Spanish  War,  558-571. 

Specie  circular,  408. 

Spoils  system,  391. 

Spottsylvania,  battle  of,  525. 

Squatter  sovereignty,  442. 

Stamp  Act,  139,  140,  144-149. 

Standish,  Miles,  67. 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  483,  543. 

Stark,  General  John,  portrait,  186;  auto 
graph,  175;  at  Bunker  Hill,  173;  at 
Bennington,  186. 

States'  rights,  243. 

Steel  Industry,  578. 

Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  471,  474,  475. 

Stowe,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher,  portrait, 
438;  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  438. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter.  83,  84. 

Sumner,  Charles,  portrait,  446;  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Act,  440,  441. 

Supreme  Court,  236,  237,  241,  242,  265, 
351- 

Surplus,  distribution  of  the,  406,  407. 

Swedish  settlements,  84. 

Tallmadge,  James  W.,  360,  361. 
Taney,  Roger  B.,  removal  of  the  deposits, 
406;   opinion  in  Dred  Scott  case,  448, 

449- 

Tariffacts,  of  1789,  264;  of  1816.  348/349 ; 
of  1824,  363,  364;  of  iSz&.jvfi'.  372;  of 
1832,  395;  of  1842,  412;  of  1846,  425- 
427;  of  1857, 465;  of  1861,465:  of  1872, 
556;  of  1890,  556;  effect  of,  557. 

Taylor,  John  W.,  360 

Taylor,  General  Zachary,  in  Mexican 
War,  421;  President,  431;  policy  as  to 
slave  extension,  431-433;  death,  435. 

Tea  duty,  159. 

Temperature,  of  Europe  and  America,  3; 
of  the  United  States,  5 ;  influence  of,  on 
history,  6. 

Tenure  of  Office  Act,  541,  543. 

Territorial  government,  225,  226. 

Texas,  independence  of,  419;  annexation 
of,  419-421;  boundaries,  420,  421. 

Textile  industries,  establishment  of,  348. 

Thirteenth  Amendment,  516,  537,  538. 

Thomas,  General  George  H.,  portrait  and 
autograph.  521;  at  Mill  Spring,  501;  at 
Stone  River,  513 ;  at  Chickamauga,  520; 
at  Chattanooga,  522;  at  Nashville,  525. 


Index 


xxvii 


Thompson,  Benjamin  (Count  Rumford), 
204. 

Topeka  convention,  444. 

Toscanelli,  Paolo,  21. 

Townshend  Acts,  150,  154. 

Treaties,  with  Great  Britain,  of  1783, 
208-211;  Jay's  Treaty,  278;  proposed 
(1806),  323;  Erskine's,  329;  Ghent,  341- 
343;  of  1818,  352;  Ashburton  Treaty, 
412-414;  Oregon  Treaty,  423-425; 
Washington,  546;  between  Great  Brit 
ain  and  France,  St.  Germain,  50; 
Utrecht,  112;  Aix  la  Chapelle,  114; 
Paris  (1763),  116;  with  France,  alliance, 
(1778),  190;  of  1800,  289;  Louisiana 
Purchase,  315;  with  Mexico,  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo,  422;  with  Russia  (1824),  359; 
with  Spain,  of  1795,  280;  Florida  treaty, 
354;  of  1898,  571. 

Trent  affair;   502. 

Trenton,  battle  of,  185. 

Tweed  Ring,  548. 

Twelfth  Amendment,  319,  548. 

Tyler,  John,  President  on  death  of  Harri 
son,  411;  administration,  411-420. 

Underbill,  Captain  John,  78. 

United  States,  area,  population,  etc.,  in 
1800,  299;  in  1830,  380-382;  in  1860, 
456;  in  1900,  573;  boundaries  of,  208- 
210,  228,  277,  278,  280,  315-318,  352, 
353,  419-422,  423-425,  457'.  Alaska  Pur 
chase,  544;  a  world  power,  581. 

United  States  Bank,  the  First,  272;  the 
Second,  403-406. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  chief  of  Albany 
Junto,  371;  Secretary  of  State,  403; 
elected  President,  409;  administration 
of,  409;  nominated  by  Free-Soilers,  431. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  76. 

Verrazano,  da  (da  ver-ra-tsa'no),  Gio 
vanni,  sails  along  the  Atlantic  coast, 

34- 

Vespucius,  Americus,  his  voyages  and 
letters,  29. 

Vicksburg  campaign,  516. 

Virginia,  named,  43;  Ralegh  colonies  in, 
43,44;  limits  of,  52;  map  of  (1606),  52; 
(1609),  53;  charter  of  1606,  51 ;  colony 
of,  founded,  53;  charters  of  1609  and 
1612,  54,  55;  Dale's  laws,  55,  56;  Puri 
tans  in,  56;  representative  institutions 
in,  56;  forced  labor  in,  57;  negro  slav 
ery  in,  57, 121 ;  revocation  of  the  charter, 
58;  under  the  royal  governors,  58,  59; 


during  Puritan  supremacy,  59;  Bacon's 
rebellion  in,  104;  convicts  in,  123; 
Protestant  dissenters  in,  124;  Resolves 
of  1769,  153;  non-importation  agree 
ment,  154  ;  colonial  Committee  of 
Correspondence,  162;  Declaration  of 
Independence  of,  181;  first  constitu 
tion  of,  178;  claims  to  western  lands, 
220,  221;  cession  of  western  lands, 
223,  224;  Virginia  Resolutions  of  1798, 
287;  secession  of,  486;  topography  of, 
497- 

Waldseemiiller  (walt'za-mul-er),  Martin, 
proposes  name  "  America,"  29. 

Walker,  Robert  J.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  425. 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  131,  132. 

War  of  1812,  330-341. 

Washington,  George,  portraits  (1774),  174; 
(1785),  263;  autograph, 281 ;  in  French 
and  Indian  War,  115;  commander  in 
chief  in  Revolution,  175;  cabal  against, 
188,  189;  at  Newburg,  202;  letter  to 
governors,  211;  in  Federal  Convention, 
235;  elected  President,  258;  adminis 
trations  of,  258-282;  farewell  address, 
281 ;  commander  in  chief  (1798),  283. 

Washington,  city  of,  in  1800,  300;  burn 
ing  of,  by  British,  337;  defense  of,  in 
1861,  496. 

Wayne,  General  Anthony,  193. 

Webster,  Daniel,  portrait,  393;  enters 
Congress,  332;  on  protective  tariffs 
(1824),  348;  debate  with  Hayne,  391- 
395;  Secretary  of  State,  412;  negotiates 
Ashburton  Treaty,  412-413;  Seventh 
of  March  Speech,  435;  again  Secretary 
of  State,  435. 

Welles,  Gideon,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 

483- 
Western  lands,  claims  to,  219-221 ;  policy 

of  Congress   respecting,   224;    map   of 

claims  and  cessions,  221 ;  settlement  of 

the,  297,  351. 
Wey mouth,  George,  51. 
Whitney,  Eli,  304. 
Wilkinson,  General  James,  321. 
Williams,  Roger,  in  Massachusetts,  74; 

founds    Providence,   74,   75;    place    in 

history,  75. 
Wilmot  Proviso,  429. 
Winthrop,  John,  72. 

Yeardley,  Sir  George,  56. 
Yorktown,  siege  of,  198,  199. 


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